Life As Emily Knows It
by decayednotion
Summary: This is my take on what happens after the series' finale of the show. Expect the medicine, drama, and relationships to be present in each chapter/episode that I write! We'll see where this goes :)
1. Emily and the Hairball

**Hi everyone! I have really enjoyed reading all the 'Emily Owens, M.D' fan fiction here! Everyone is so wonderful and the stories are awesome because they're all going in their own direction. I just find it amazing how many people truly love this show and want to keep it alive. That includes me: I will be forever a fan and I am very sad to see this show come to an abrupt end. I'm going to give writing a shot. Forgive me if you spot any errors or the flow isn't all that great. This is my first time writing fiction! I've always had to write term papers so I hope this becomes something beautiful and fun for me : )**

**The premise for my story is going to continue from the series' finale. My goal for each chapter is going to resemble an episode. I want to try to write about medical problems and about the drama between the different characters in the show. I'm also trying to figure out how I want to approach this story so I may experiment with different perspectives/point of views. I have also watched the entire series of 'House, M.D.' and I'm currently all caught up with 'Grey's Anatomy' so you may be familiar with some cases that I write about since they are part of my inspiration. **

**I'm afraid each 'chapter/episode' will be long then if I decide to do this so bear with me! It'll be worth it, I promise : )**

***** Please don't hesitate to leave me feedback and comments! I would really appreciate any suggestions you may have for me. I would love to hear what you all think! Thanks and here we go! It's a long one haha.**

* * *

_"February 14th. Valentine's Day. This year, it falls on a Thursday. It is the one day out of the entire year that can make every single person out there feel like the loneliest person ever. So why is it that everyone thinks I'm lonely and that I'm desperate to find that special someone? Hmm, I actually like being alone. To be honest, there is a huge difference between being alone and being lonely. I am not lonely. I like to think of it as my 'me time'. Emily time. And I don't need a guy or anyone else for that matter to make me happy. Well, there are days where having a boyfriend would be nice. Or a puppy. Or a box of Godiva chocolate truffles."_

Emily was lying there awake in her bed, just staring at the ceiling. The thought of chocolate made her stomach growl. She sighed and looked over at her alarm clock to the left of her bed. 4:11 AM. She pulled the covers over her head and groaned. Two more hours until she had to officially be up and to get ready for her long and probably exhausting day at Denver Memorial.

Emily tossed and turned until she was on comfortably on her side. She then started thinking about her situation. The Will situation. The Micah situation too. After the little discussion she had several days ago with Micah about why he picked Cassandra and not her for the surgery that he was in charge of, Emily felt she wasn't in the wrong for hesitating to pursue a relationship with him.

"_I mean, this is why interns shouldn't date their residents. It has trouble written all over it! My career is the only thing I have going for me. God knows how hard I have worked to get to this point and to possibly think I could mess things up because I have a thing for my resident? My mentor? My best friend - "_

Emily stopped in the middle of her rant. She sighed and began replaying all her favorite moments she shared with Micah. "_Her first cut in surgery with him. Their lunch breaks on the rooftop. Laughing with Joyce about his nickname 'Micah Mouse.' That unexpected kiss_." She knew deep inside that Micah was the main person keeping her sane in the midst of everything going on in her life. So why couldn't she think of him that way? Why couldn't she see him the way he sees her?

She winced in pain, thinking about how hurt Micah would be if he had found out about what happened between her and Will a few days ago. Emily has the tendency to feel extremely guilty in almost all situations.

_"Where do I even begin with Will? He's been my best friend throughout all of medical school. Despite everything we've been through, it's always been him. Will. It's always going to be him."_ Emily turned to her other side and stared out the window this time. It was still dark outside. She then started thinking about all the moments she shared with Will. This time, Emily began to realize that there were more bad moments than good. "_He rejected me when I confessed my love for him. He dated my arch nemesis. He picked her over me."_

She thought she was completely over Will after Cassandra lashed out at her for getting the research assistant position. But somehow that switch was flipped on again and all her suppressed feelings came rushing back to her after that conversation in the bar when Will confided in her about the mistake he made with his patient.

Emily smiled and giggled to herself when she thought about that wonderful night. Will had come over and chose her. He finally chose her. The moment she had been waiting for who knows how long for had happened. The passion was there. The love was there. The longing and desire for one another was there. She didn't regret what they did at all. For once, Emily felt everything was going her way for once. But then her heart and head began aching for Micah…

_"What am I going to do? Does this mean Will and I are together now? Oh, please don't tell me that was a one-night stand! I am so not that kind of girl! Wait, or was I the rebound girl?!"_ Emily gasped and started kicking in bed and shaking her head.

Her alarm went off and she immediately turned it off. Emily couldn't believe she spent the last two hours thinking about Will and Micah.

"Emily! I call the bathroom first!" Tyra yelled out, followed by the slamming of the door.

Emily laughed and no longer was she thinking about her complicated situations. She got up out of bed and began folding her bed sheets.

* * *

It was Tyra's turn to drive them to the hospital.

"My dad would be so proud of me for remembering to fill up the gas tank! Remember when I told you he gave me so much crap for forgetting that _one_ time?! I can't believe he called me a child –" Tyra went on and on about her dad and how she's trying to prove to her parents that she's not a little girl anymore. Emily nodded and acknowledged her curly haired best girl friend. She continued to be deep into her thoughts though.

"Hello? Earth to Emily? I feel like I'm talking to myself!" Tyra came to an abrupt stop at the intersection. Emily jerked forward and cried out loud, "Hey! I was paying attention. You were talking about your dad and the gas tank and moving out. You didn't have to slam on your brakes to get my attention." Tyra glared at her and they both started laughing. They could never take each other too seriously.

"_I truly do enjoy Tyra's company. She constantly tries to get me out of my comfort zone and I have become a stronger and better person because of her. Which reminds me. I still haven't told her about Will. Ugh, I already feel like I know what she's going to say. She hasn't been Will's biggest fan since day one but she's my friend. She should support me and my decisions right?"_ Emily debated about possibly confessing to Tyra but then she knew she had to prepare herself for the long lecture and disappointing looks and remarks from her. "_Maybe later tonight since we don't have any plans for Valentine's Day. Yup, that sounds good. I will tell her tonight. I should buy her a box of chocolate so she'll go easy on me."_

The two finally arrived at the hospital in one piece. When they reached the intern locker room, Will was on his way out. Will quickly shot Emily a smile as they passed each other. _The smile that makes her weak in the knees, that makes her heart skip a beat. _As his back was facing her, Emily gazed happily at him with her 'lovey-dovey-Will eyes' as Tyra describes it.

"What has gotten into you? I thought the Will switch was off for good this time." Questioned Tyra.

Emily quickly composed herself and cleared her throat. "Oh, I wasn't staring at Will. I was looking at –"

"Mhmm… Whatever you say Emily. I'm telling you, he's no good for you but I'll say no more. I don't want to be the one lecturing you." Tyra sighed. "Okay, let's go now or we'll be late. Dr. Bandari is still on her vacation and Micah isn't going to cut us any slack." Tyra grabbed Emily's arm and muttered under her breath, "Even if he's totally in love with you."

* * *

Emily and Tyra were standing in the back of the room during the consultation.

"Dr. Kopleson, please present." Micah stated, quickly handing Cassandra the patient's chart. He looked over at Emily and then at Will who was directly across the room from her. He noticed she was looking at Will but he wasn't looking back at her. Micah's heart began aching a little.

"Randall Jacobson, 34, admitted to the hospital yesterday after collapsing in a grand mal seizure. Labs and tox screen came back clean…"

Emily wasn't fully paying attention to what the case was about. All she could about was Will. "_He hasn't been able to look me in the eye ever since… our encounter." _She frowned and let out a sigh that was louder than she expected it to be.

"Dr. Owens, are we boring you?" Micah asked which startled Emily.

"I'm so sorry, no you aren't. I was just –" stammered Emily. She couldn't finish her sentence before Micah interrupted her and said, "Dr. Owens, what course of action do you recommend to take with Randall?"

"Call me Randy if that isn't too much trouble," the patient chimed in, "Dr. Barnes, go easy on her. She didn't mean it." He looked at Emily and gave her a reassuring smile. Emily couldn't help but return a smile back but quickly looked at Micah and answered his question.

"I recommend that we follow up the labs with an additional blood test for encephalopathy. We should also rule out the possibility of an aneurysm, epilepsy, or cancer. For now, we should administer steroids just in case," Emily quietly said, looking down at her feet as she finished her answer. She was embarrassed to look at Micah. Anyone else for that matter. Tyra rubbed Emily's arm for support.

Micah was surprised at Emily's recommendation. He was certain she wasn't listening and was probably thinking about Will… His heart ached once more. Micah smiled at Emily then looked over at Randy, "We're going to figure this out Randy. We're not going to give up on you. Dr. Owens, Dr. Dupre. Please do the blood workup and run the test." Micah couldn't look at Emily anymore so he started walking out of the room as quickly as he could. "_I need to get some air,"_ thought Micah.

* * *

All the interns had left the room, leaving only Tyra and Emily with Randy. They both put on gloves and Tyra went over to the supply cabinet. Emily walked over to Randy and began asking him about his pictures on the windowsill.

_"I know I got on the wrong foot with Micah this morning. I hope he isn't too upset with me and nothing else is bothering him… I can't believe I actually sighed that loudly!"_ Emily was kicking herself for what happened earlier as she was reading Randy's vital signs.

"Okay Randy, we're done so far and we got everything we needed to conduct the test. Is there anything else you need or do you have any questions for us?" Tyra asked as Emily was hanging up the steroids IV bag.

"Actually, you could do me one thing. I've been dying for a good ol' pork chop or some ribs! Is there any way you could grant me this one request? I'm sick of this hospital food," Randy nudged Emily and the three of them laughed.

Tyra answered regretfully, "I'm sorry Randy, we're trying to monitor every possible thing we can and that includes what you're eating. We promise you that pork chop as soon as we figure out what's causing your seizures."

"Oh well, it was worth a try!," Randy laughed.

Tyra asked if Emily still needed her and Emily shook her head and waved goodbye to her friend. She was taking off his blood pressure cuff. Emily was interested in the picture on the windowsill with Randy and several pigs.

"Who are those cute little piggies in that picture with you?" she smiled.

"Oh that? I had gone to San Diego for one of their fairs last summer. It's funny, I actually love me some pork! Bacon, pork chops, baby back ribs, you name anything pork-related, I'd eat it!" Randy laughed and his stomach growled at the thought of all the delicious food he was missing out on. "I can't wait until I can eat again instead of being 'NPO' or whatever," he said and rubbed his stomach.

Emily laughed and said, "Soon, once we figure this out. I love bacon a lot too. Did you know the best way to cook bacon is to –" Before Emily could finish her sentence, Randy jumped in and said, "Bake it in the oven! Yes Dr. Owens, I know. I do it all the time! It most definitely helps with rendering out the fat." They both smiled and laughed their bacon-cooking tidbit.

"I'll be back later to check in on you but feel free to call or page me if anything changes," informed Emily. Randy thanked her with a huge grin on his face and turned on the T.V. and started watching one of the basketball games.

Emily walked out of Randy's room and started walking towards the main nurses' station. Tyra was there, going over her small stack of patient charts.

"Emily, something's clearly bothering you. You never doze off during consultations! I knew something was up ever since this morning. You're acting weirder than usual. Spill." exclaimed Tyra with general concern beaming from her brown eyes and stern expression.

Emily sighed, "Tyra, it's a long story and I promise to tell you everything but not right now. I don't want to talk or think about it. I want to focus on Randy and our other patients. We'll talk at home, I pinky swear."

They had reached the nurses' station and Tyra turned to face Emily straight on. She placed her hands on Emily's shoulders and looked her in the eyes, "Whatever it is, you're a survivor. I'm holding you to your promise. I expect a full, detailed account of your ordeal tonight. Hmm, I forgot it's Valentine's Day," Tyra looked at the paper hearts taped to the wall in disgust. Emily knew she was still hurting after the Hot Molly rejection. Tyra left to tend to her other assigned patients.

Riddled with guilt, Emily couldn't face Micah. It was weird, knowing that she had slept with Will, someone Micah wasn't too particularly fond of. They two have been talking to each other less, which was on purpose for Emily anyways. She wasn't sure how Micah was feeling about it. She loved Will but she started developing strong feelings for Micah as well…

Sunny the nurse startled Emily's inner monologue by handing her a patient file and said, "Don't look so down in the dumps Dr. Owens, it's Valentine's Day!" Sunny giggled with another nurse as Dr. Aquino walked on over and stood next to Emily.

"Dr. Owens," greeted AJ.

Emily didn't take her eyes off her patient's file but acknowledged him. "Dr. Aquino."

AJ continued to talk to Emily even though she wasn't in the mood to interact with the gorgeous doctor standing only a few inches away from her. "So I heard you were bored today during Dr. Barnes' consultation." He stifled a laugh and smiled.

"I wasn't bored!" Emily said in her defense, "I was –" AJ held up his hand to her, surprising Emily.

"_Why was everyone cutting me off mid-sentence today? Is it 'cut off Emily while she's talking' day?"_ thought Emily.

"I'm just teasing. Doesn't matter, I get bored myself sometimes too. Just don't be so obvious about it next time," AJ jokingly let out a big, exaggerated sigh, which made Emily laugh. AJ smiled and then proceeded to ask Emily about a case he was working on, "Since you're _oh so bored_, how about you assist me on a case today?"

Emily had reviewed the patient file that Sunny had given to her before AJ came over and that's where she had to be next.

"There's a patient I have to see Dr. Aquino. I would have loved to work with you today but –"

AJ took the yellow patient file out of Emily's hands and looked around the floor. Emily rolled her eyes but made sure it was when AJ wasn't looking at her. He saw Will and motioned him over. Will came over, again avoiding any eye contact with Emily.

"Dr. Aquino, Dr. Owens. What can I do for you?"

"I actually need Dr. Owens to assist with a case of mine. I was hoping if you could take care of this patient for her," AJ kindly asked.

"Uh, yeah… sure. I'm not that busy today I guess," Will said while rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. He continued to avoid eye contact with Emily.

_"What is his problem? I really don't understand what's going on… Will, why are you being like this?"_ Emily remained quiet during this conversation.

AJ handed the patient file over to Will, "Thanks Dr. Collins. Okay, Dr. Owens, shall we?" AJ started walking away and Emily followed. Will watched as Emily left and he couldn't help but feel guilty and sad. He shook his head and was on his way to his new patient in room 612.

* * *

Micah had gone outside to grab a cup of coffee from the cart. He needed to get out of the hospital for a few minutes and to clear his head. As Micah was paying, Cassandra was behind him and tapped him on his shoulder.

"Dr. Kopleson, hello."

"Dr. Barnes, could I speak with you for a moment?" asked Cassandra.

Micah waited for her to get her coffee and they walked over to one of the hospital benches that wasn't wet with condensation.

"So, what can I do for you Dr. Kopleson?"

"I wanted to ask you about the surgery that I assisted you with a few days ago," Cassandra started.

"Okay, go on," Micah listened attentively.

"Why did you choose me? I thought Emily was going to assist you."

Micah looked at Cassandra in shock for a nanosecond and quickly changed his facial expression. "_Don't let her know that you're in love with Emily."_

"I have always been impressed with you and your problem solving skills. You are a great doctor and I admire your determination and ambition. I felt that surgery was an amazing opportunity for you to have and I haven't been able to work closely with you yet. I assure you, there wasn't any other reason aside from what I had just given you," Micah replied as professionally and calmly as he could.

Cassandra's face looked puzzled and she continued, "I could have sworn it was about Em-" She paused. For a split second, she forgot who she was talking to and quickly recovered, "Never mind, thank you for your reassurance and confidence in me. I really appreciate it and hope to work with you again in the future." Cassandra got up from the bench and said good-bye to Micah and briskly walked back to the hospital. She was out of line for mentioning Emily. What Micah said about her was true, she deserved it as much as Emily did. Even if Micah was obviously in love with her. Her confidence was still shaken after not getting the research assistant position and her breakup with Will. Cassandra was still heart broken but she didn't allow anyone else to know or see her pain.

Meanwhile, Micah was left stunned, still sitting on the cold bench. _"Am I that obvious?"_ He stood up, drank the remaining of his coffee and threw it away as he made his way back to the hospital. "_So much for clearing my head."_

* * *

Emily was just about caught up with AJ's patient. She was actually glad she decided to work with AJ today. _"Uh, forced was more like it," _Emily thought. All she could see in AJ was that he is Micah's best friend. _"He probably knows what's going on between Micah and I. Oh my gosh, he probably hates me and he's spying on me for Micah! I'm stuck with him the rest of my shift…"_ her thought was interrupted by AJ's warm greeting to the patient and her mother.

"Dr. Owens, this is Alexis. Alexis, this is Dr. Owens. She's going to be helping me with you today. Does that sound okay? Hello Mrs. Henderson!" One smile and look from AJ and Alexis was acting as if she was melted putty in his hands. Alexis could only respond with an eager nod, as she looked at AJ with her love struck eyes. Alexis's mom seemed un-phased by AJ and his charms.

"Alexis, I'm going to lift up part of your gown so I can show Dr. Owens what we're dealing with. It'll be a quick look, I promise."

Alexis answered with a silent nod once more and pulled off her bed sheet. AJ lifted her blue hospital gown and Emily's eyes widened with curiosity.

There was a large lump protruding on her side.

Alexis finally said something while looking at Emily, "It doesn't hurt when you touch it. I'm scared an alien will pop out of it or something like in the movie." AJ and Alexis laughed, which caused Emily to loosen up and to laugh as well.

"Oh Alexis, I don't think anything scary is going to come out of it. Don't worry, you have Dr. Aquino to take care of you," reassured Emily. Alexis smiled and continued looking at AJ.

_"This girl is in love. I can't blame him, he is pretty handsome. No, wait! He's the potential enemy or spy right now!"_ Emily smiled as AJ as she was going through different scenarios about how the rest of the day would turn out.

"Excuse me, I don't want you to be encouraging my daughter with nonsense. She's sick right now. She doesn't need jokes and doctors who aren't serious about her current condition. Alexis, stop messing around and compose yourself. You're in a hospital for goodness's sake!" her mother barked at them three, "Alexis, speak up! You have to actually talk in order to tell the doctors what and how you're feeling. They aren't mind readers! I swear, she gets her shyness and quietness from her father…"

Alexis, AJ, and Emily immediately stopped laughing and smiling the instant Mrs. Henderson spoke.

After clearing his throat, AJ said as professionally as he could, "Alexis, your surgery to remove the lump is in a couple of hours. You're going to get prepped in just a moment. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask." He gave her a smile to ease her nerves, especially after her mother's outburst.

Mrs. Henderson shook her head and resumed her seat next to Alexis's bed.

"Dr. Owens, a moment outside."

Emily frowned as AJ walked out of Alexis's room, not sure what she did this time.

"So, now that you're all caught up with Alexis and the situation, you're going to be going into the surgery with me."

Emily was shocked, she thought she was just shadowing and tagging along with AJ today, not to assist with a surgery! Emily managed to get a few words out, "Do you know what it is and how to proceed?"

"X-rays and scans weren't able to tell us anything definitively but as far as we can tell, it is a mass of some kind. We won't really know until we cut and get in there. I am hoping it isn't cancerous and some kind of tumor," AJ simply said. Emily nodded and remained silent. She didn't know what to else to say. "I will page you before the surgery begins. You can go check on your other patients." This was Emily's cue to go see Randy and catch up with Tyra in the meantime. She quickly dismissed herself and headed towards the elevator.

Little did Emily know, AJ was actually excited to work with her this time because he never really had the chance to talk or get to know her. Micah had spent all this time talking about her and it was so obvious to him that his best friend was in love with this girl. However, AJ couldn't read Emily. Usually, he could tell what girls are thinking because they were open books to him. He was a ladies' man, as everyone in the hospital knew him as that. With Alexis, he knew the little girl was love struck with him. AJ had that power over women. All sorts of women… even the cold, seemingly-heartless Dr. Gina Bandari. He had missed her the entire time he was away from Denver Memorial but ever since he came back, she keeps refusing to talk to him or even see him. AJ stopped himself from reminiscing any further and texted Micah to see where he was.

* * *

"I can't believe you're scrubbing into surgery today with AJ! I haven't seen the inside of an OR room in ages…" Tyra rambled on.

"You were in OR just last week, with your dad remember?" Emily reminded her.

"You know what I mean. Anyways, how's working with AJ? Tell me! I'm dying to know what he's like. Besides Dr. Putnam, AJ is like the biggest flirt at the hospital!" Emily could tell Tyra couldn't contain herself and kept bombarding her with questions.

"AJ's a nice guy. He's funny too. I don't know what else to tell you. He seemed pretty insistent to work with me today, which I thought was weird," admitted Emily. She still couldn't figure out what he was up to or if he was actually up to anything. _"I need to stop overthinking things. It just creates a bigger mess…_"

Tyra rolled her eyes at Emily, "C'mon, did you forget he's Micah's BFF? Maybe he's digging up some dirt on you."

"He never brought up anything about me and Micah. We just joked with each other a lot from what I recall. I really don't know Tyra. I'm stumped." It was true, Emily was stumped.

"Maybe it's nothing. Maybe he just wanted to work with an intern today and he picked you. Stop overthinking things Emily, I keep telling you that," snickered Tyra. Emily playfully punched Tyra in the arm.

"Oh, did you get Randy's test results yet? They should be done by now," asked Emily.

"Ugh, I don't want to go get them. I have to see Hot Molly and you know I'm not trying to see her after what happened. Emily, can you go get them?" Tyra pleaded. She has been avoiding Hot Molly at all costs, especially after their little spat in the parking lot the night of Dr. Bandari's fundraiser.

Emily went to the labs and picked up the results. Negative. What could be wrong with Randall? Back to the drawing board.

* * *

Sitting on the roof was the best part of the day for Emily. She couldn't speak for Tyra but it was her favorite thing to do. It was her refuge from all the hustle-and-bustle of the hospital. Even if it was for a few minutes, it gave her peace of mind and time to clear her head. This was the perfect opportunity for her and Tyra to discuss about Randall.

As Tyra was taking the crust off her chicken salad sandwich, Emily pondered out loud, "Was there anything we could have missed? All the tests and lab results have been inconclusive so far. There is clearly something causing Randy's seizures. What do you think?"

"It could be a neurological problem. We didn't rule out stroke or epilepsy yet," Tyra tried to answer clearly with food in her mouth.

"He has no history of that kind of problem. We're missing something, we just don't know what…." Emily sighed and bit into her apple.

Suddenly, both Tyra and Emily's pagers went off. Something was happening to Randy. The two threw away their lunches and bolted down the stairs.

* * *

Randy was experiencing another grand mal seizure. Sunny and Will were already in the room, trying to stabilize Randy as he was shaking violently on the bed.

"It just started a few minutes ago, I came in to talk to Randy and then he started seizing!" Will managed to get the words out as he continued to hold Randy on his side with Sunny across from him.

Emily ordered Martha, one of the nurses, to give him phenobarbital. It was very tense in the room. No one knew what was going to happen next.

Randy's seizure had finally subsided but then, his heart rate had skyrocketed and he went into cardiac arrest.

"Code blue! Start compressions!" commanded Emily. The nurses rushed to grab the crash cart as Will began the compressions. He grabbed the paddles and yelled out "Clear!" and shocked Randy's heart. After a few tries, he wasn't coming back but on the fourth attempt, his heart began beating again. Randy eventually regained consciousness.

"Wh-Wh-What happened?" stuttered Randy.

Tyra took out of her mini flashlight and checked his visual responses.

"You had another seizure, which may have caused your heart to stop Randy but it's over now," Emily gently reassured him with a smile.

Tears began to form at the corners of Randy's eyes. Emily could tell he was extremely scared. No one knew what was causing his seizures and what was wrong with him. Everyone but Tyra and Emily left the room to give Randy space.

Concerned with how long Randy was unconscious, Emily whispered to Tyra asking if they should conduct a neurological test to see if there was any brain damage. Tyra answered with a nod and stepped outside to call the neurologist.

The neurologist had recommended the interns to have Randy arrange set of pictures to form a cohesive story. Randy wasn't able to do it but a few minutes later, he was able to pass the test. Tyra and Emily looked at each other, unable to fathom what just happened.

"Okay. Page Dr. Barnes," Emily asked Sunny.

* * *

Micah came rushing into the hallway, immediately asking what had happened. Emily filled Micah in as they rushed Randy to get an MRI.

"Randy had another grand mal seizure but this time, he went into cardiac arrest. He was gone for maybe twenty minutes so Tyra and I checked for any brain damage. Weird thing was that he failed the test the neurologist Dr. Lee recommended but a few moments later, he passed. That is why we paged you, it has to be something neurological," Emily informed Micah.

Micah nodded at Emily and then turned to Tyra, "Page me when you get the results of the MRI. Good work you two." He sighed and turned to leave, all the while trying to avoid Emily's eyes.

Emily shrugged Micah's sudden departure and was a little relieved to not talk to him since she still felt guilty as heck. Even Tyra noticed it too. She rubbed Emily's shoulder and told her it was going to be okay.

"The focus is on Randy now," Emily bluntly said.

As they positioned Randy from the gurney and into the MRI machine, the two doctors awaited the results.

_"I can't go much longer without talking to Micah again. The whole situation with Kelly a few months ago were pure torture. I had missed him a lot. I have to tell him what happened."_ She had lost her train of thought as Tyra said there was some swelling in her brain.

"What the heck is wrong with Randy?!" she cried out in frustration. Emily went over to see the results and agreed with Tyra, there was swelling in Randy's brain but it wasn't bad enough to go in and relieve the pressure.

Before Emily could reach the phone, Tyra picked it up instead and paged Micah. She gave Emily a small smile, knowing she wasn't really up to talk to Micah after his odd behavior earlier. Emily's pager went off and it was AJ.

* * *

Emily went down to the OR and began scrubbing in next to AJ.

"Hey, I heard about your other patient. Were you able to figure out what was wrong with him yet?" AJ was curious.

Emily shook her head and sighed, "We're all stumped at the moment. Everything that has happened so far points to some sort of neurological problem but there isn't anything abnormal in the brain." Frustrated with Randy's medical puzzle, she furiously scrubbed way at her hands, moving up her arms.

"The answer will come to you, it's right there in front of your face. You just have to think about everything as a whole. But for now, it's Alexis's surgery. Try to focus on that. This should be a textbook procedure," AJ tried to change the subject to get Emily's other patient off her mind.

Emily nodded and smiled, "Okay, that's good. I'm glad it isn't something crazy or intense but I hope it's just a benign mass or tumor and that little girl will leave the OR in better shape than when she came in."

Both doctors were finished and gowned up once they stepped inside the sterile OR. Everything and everyone was prepped and ready to go. AJ had motioned Emily to make the first cut. Instead of questioning his methods, Emily confidently grabbed the scalpel from one of the surgical nurses. "Beginning with a five-inch incision in the lower left quadrant of the abdomen." AJ was surprised by her immediate coolness and confidence.

As the doctors was able to get a better visualization of what the mass was, AJ was shocked to see what it was. Emily looked as well and her eyes grew bigger as AJ grabbed the mass with a pair of surgical tongs.

"Dr. Aquino, what is that? It looks like –"

"—hairball. What do you call this Dr. Owens?"

"It appears to be a pseudo-bezoar made out of hair. It kinda looks like a heart," Emily was still in shock that something like that was lodged in Alexis's stomach.

"Oh, it actually does look like a heart. How appropriate with today being Valentine's Day." The doctors and the rest of the surgical team let out a laugh. AJ continued, "I think Alexis may have trichophagia. That's the only explanation I have for this. She ate her own hair," AJ placed the hairball in the metal tray that one of the nurses held out.

Suddenly, it hit Emily like a ton of bricks. _"That's what we missed. We didn't think about what Randy ate. He had went on and on about his favorite type of meat which was pork. It had to be a parasite._" Emily excused herself from the OR and thanked AJ for letting her assist with Alexis's surgery. She rushed out of the room and her mask, gloves, and gown. Emily took a deep breath and paged Micah to see what he thought of her diagnosis.

* * *

Randy was fast asleep in his bed but groggily woke up to the faces of Micah, Emily, and Tyra. He rubbed his eyes and greeted the doctors, "Hey guys, what's up?"

Micah started talking first, "Hey Randy. We have good news. We were able to figure out what was causing all of your symptoms. Remember when we went to took that x-ray of your leg?"

Randy answered with a nod of his head, "Yeah, I thought that was weird. I thought there was something wrong with my head but then you go and take an x-ray of my leg. What's going on?" Randy was apprehensive to hear what was coming next.

Micah motioned Emily to talk, "Randy, I had remembered our conversation about pork and bacon. Well, I came to the conclusion that you may have eaten contaminated pork and ingested a tape worm." Emily paused to gauge Randy's reaction: he was shocked.

"When we started you on steroids, you initially got better but then you started getting worse. This explains your seizures and the cardiac arrest. It turns out that tape worms can live for long periods of time within the human host but sometimes they can die. The eggs they produce can pass into the bloodstream from stomach and intestines. They are able to survive pretty much anywhere in the body, including the brain. In your case, the eggs made their way to your brain which explains the swelling."

Randy stopped Emily in the middle of her explanation. "Wait, all this was caused by a friggin' worm?!"

Emily nodded, "Yes. We believe the tape worm may have died and triggered a response in your immune system and caused the swelling in your brain. When we ran your labs and tox screen, the parasite test was actually a false negative. There is really no way to test for parasites because it's quite difficult. The only thing we can do now is to treat it and see you get better."

Micah smiled at Emily in approval of her explanation but it quickly disappeared. He motioned Tyra to speak next, "Hi Randy. To continue what Dr. Barnes was saying earlier about the x-ray of your leg, we wanted to see if some worm larva was present in your leg muscle. The parasite eggs are hard to detect as Dr. Owens mentioned because they have the same density as cerebro-spinal fluid but they aren't the same density as the muscle where they could be located. Turns out there actually were worm larva."

"And the prognosis Dr. Dupre?" followed up by Micah.

"We are going to start you on oral medication to flush the parasite out of your system. It's going to take a while but you're going to be taking two pills every day for a month. By then, your body should be parasite-free and your seizures and everything else should stop," Tyra ended.

Randy was still in shock as Emily could tell. He thanked the doctors for all that they did. Micah and Tyra left his room, while Emily stayed behind to talk to Randy some more.

Emily sat in the chair next to Randy's bed. She grabbed his hand and said, "Randy, I know everything about this was scary but know that you're going to be cured in just a month. Now we gotta talk about your pork addition," Emily sternly said and shook her finger at Randy as if he was a child. They both laughed and she continued, "You have to cook pork thoroughly so you can prevent any future parasitic problems. Do you want to ask me anything else?"

Randy smiled and shook his head, "Thank you for everything Dr. Owens. My love for pork and I thank you so much! Now, can I get some real food now that we know what's wrong with me?" Emily couldn't help but laugh and grabbed him the hospital menu. She was getting hungry herself.

* * *

Emily made her way to Alexis's room after AJ had paged her once again. She entered the room out of breath but quickly composed herself.

"Hi Alexis, how are you feeling?" asked Emily.

Alexis smiled and told her everything was fine but she felt a little groggy.

"Your anesthesia is wearing off so it'll be maybe another hour or so till you're back to normal," Emily reassured the little girl.

"So what was it?" Mrs. Henderson asked with great concern.

Emily and AJ looked at each other and he nodded, signaling to her that he would answer this question.

"It turns out that it was a pseudo-bezoar. Basically, it is a mass that was trapped in the stomach area. It is harmless and scarring should be minimal."

"What could have caused that?"

AJ sighed as he wanted to avoid the following explanation. "We believe your daughter may have trichophagia. It is a condition where one pulls out their hair and eats it. Maybe over time, Alexis continued to do this and it resulted in the mass found in her stomach but it is harmless."

Mrs. Henderson eyes were bulging and began criticizing her daughter.

"Why on earth would you do something like that? Why are you eating your hair?! I can't believe you would do such a thing. I swear, you're more like your father—"

Alexis slumped down in her bed and finally shouted back at her mother.

"Did you ever stop to think why I may have done that! All of your remarks and criticism stressed me out! You're lucky I'm not bald at this point. Mom, I love you but you are so discouraging towards me. You make me feel like I won't ever amount to anything." Alexis said without looking at her mom in the eyes.

Mrs. Henderson calmed down and went over to her daughter. "Could we have a moment please? Thank you doctors for everything." The two doctors saw the mother embrace her daughter in a hug.

"_Everything is working out the way it should_", Emily thought to herself. She was happy with solving the problems for her two patients for the day. Looking at the block, Emily couldn't believe it was 12 hours into her shift already. She realized she barely ate today and Valentine's Day was almost over. She clocked out and texted Tyra to see where she was. After all, she was her ride home.

Her iPhone chimed. She read the text message.

_Tyra: Hey I'm in the car already, walk out to the front and I'll be there_

Emily texted back.

_Emily: Ok see u in a bit_

_Tyra: Hey lets grab food I'm starving!_

Emily's stomach growled. Food sounded good right about now. She closed her locker and started heading out towards the front entrance. Without looking, she and Will bumped into each other and did that awkward dance.

"Oh. Uh sorry Will, I didn't see you there. Have a good night. Thanks again for taking care of my patient in 612," Emily quickly said and tried to bolt out the door.

Will replied, "It's okay Emily. So, any plans for tonight?"

"I'm just going to stay in with Tyra and probably eat take out and watch some chick flicks." Emily wasn't sure of what Will was trying to get at.

"Oh, okay. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out but you already have plans. Maybe next time. Oh, I forgot to tell you, my patient's wife from a few days ago. She decided not to sue me for malpractice, which is a total relief of course but I'm still pretty messed up about what happened. Have fun tonight Emily," Will smiled and then left before Emily could react to what Will had just said. It was time for girl talk with Tyra. Drinks are a must.

Cassandra was hiding behind the lockers the entire time and had overheard the conversation between Will and Emily. She didn't know how much more pain Will could put her through. Some tears began to fall down her cheek but she immediately wiped them away. _"Lighten up Cassandra. You have a hot date later. Forget about that jerkface Will!"_ She grabbed her bag and left the locker room finally, with her eyes with every intention of hooking up with her date later that night.

* * *

Micah and AJ were at the bar, drinking beers together. They were both alone for the dreadful holiday.

"Another round please," Micah motioned to the bartender.

AJ laughed and asked his tipsy friend, "How was your day? I heard about your patient through the grape vine."

"What don't you hear in that hospital? Did Emily tell you? I know she was on your service today. So it's true that you pulled out a huge hairball from that girl?"

"Dude, yes! I've never seen anything like that before. It was pretty huge and it looked like a heart. I hope she works things out with her mother and gets help for her condition," AJ took another sip from his beer, shook it seeing that it was already empty and asked for another. "So, why have you been acting weirder than usual? Did something happen between you and Emily?"

Micah continued drinking his second beer and sighed. "I don't know, I think something's starting up again with Will. Emily has been avoiding me but not really. I don't know, she's not acting her usual self ever since Liz visited."

AJ wasn't sure of what to say to Micah. He decided to break the awkward silence.

"Girls."

Micah laughed, and they finished their beer and asked for another one.

"It'll work out Micah, just give it some time. She'll eventually talk to you about it." AJ reassured him.

All Micah could do was think about what could he have possibly said or done to make Emily act weird towards him. _"Here's to another lonely Valentine's Day,"_ he thought.

* * *

Tyra and Emily had finally got their Chinese take-out and started making their way towards the couch.

"What movie shall we watch tonight? 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days?' Tyra suggested.

"Eh, I don't even have a guy to lose in the first place. What else is there?" Emily said.

Tyra looked through her DVD collection and picked out 'He's Just Not That Into You.' "This one?" she held it up.

"_That movie sounds perfect. It's been a while since I watched it. I should learn a thing or two about guys and relationships. Maybe Will is just not that into me…"_ Emily pondered. She answered Tyra with a nod and she put the DVD in the player and sat down next to Emily on the couch. The two started eating right away.

The movie was finally over and the girls were stuffed. Emily brought out chocolate and Tyra was excited, "My favorite! Oh Emily, you shouldn't have!"

Emily smiled and they both started digging into the chocolate truffles.

"So, remember your promise to me today?"

Emily had forgotten about her scheduled confession tonight.

"Oh uhm, where do I even begin?"

Tyra started bombarding Emily with questions, left and right. She asked about the kiss between her and Micah the other day. Why she was acting all obsessive about Will again. The list went on.

Emily tried her best to answer everything in as much detail as she could. She took a deep breath and told Tyra about that night with Will.

After Emily had given Tyra the play by play of that night, she waited anxiously about what Tyra would say. For once, she was speechless. Tyra looked at Emily in awe and tried to find the right words to go about this sudden change of course in the conversation.

"Emily. I-I- I can't believe you finally got laid! I'm so happy for you because you definitely need that. But…" Tyra paused.

"But what?" Emily was confused with what her friend was trying to get say.

Tyra sighed and prepared herself to be brutally honest with Emily. "I didn't expect it to be Will. You know how I feel about the two of you. He's not good for you Emily. I know you've been pining over him since med school but when are you going to wake up and realize how wrong all of this is?!"

"Tyra, I—"

"Emily, c'mon. You know Micah is in love with you. Everyone sees it but you. You don't feel anything towards Micah?"

"I do, I do like Micah but it's complicated. You of all people should know that Tyra," That's all Emily could say.

"No Emily, it's really not. Remember you said you wanted to be someone's first choice? Well Micah chose you. Will chose Cassandra. Yeah yeah, they're broken up but that doesn't mean he chose you Emily. Okay, I know what you're thinking. You guys slept together but that could have been a 'rebound' thing. I'm sorry but it's true, maybe you're thinking of that night as something more than Will had intended." Tyra couldn't believe how honest she was being and how calm Emily was reacting to what she was saying.

Emily didn't say anything because she was thinking about what her friend had made her realize.

"I really don't know anymore… I'm so confused about everything and it sucks. Why am I feeling this way?" Emily groaned as she stuffed another truffle into her mouth.

Tyra gave Emily a one-armed hug. "Sex makes things more complicated."

Emily laughed, "You're telling me.." She sighed. "I need to figure out my life."

"I'm still figuring out mines," remarked Tyra. "Keep me in the loop, okay? I know I haven't been the most supportive person but I'm always on your side Emily. If Will makes you happy then who am I to say otherwise? I just don't want to see you get hurt again, you know?"

Tyra continues to surprise Emily. Beneath her wild hair and outrageous personality, Tyra was a gentle soul at heart. She gave Tyra a hug and thanked her for hearing her out and for her advice.

The girls cleaned up the mess they made and headed for bed.

"I call dibbs on the bathroom!" Tyra laughed out loud as she ran past Emily and into the bathroom.

Emily smiled in response to that and started changing into her pajamas in the mean time.


	2. Emily and the Lemons

**Hi everyone! Thank you so much for your kind words! I'm starting to get the hang of writing now. Still working out some kinks. I was writing chapter 1 in the wee hours of the night so when I read it again after I had published it, I caught so many grammatical errors haha. Opps! I'm sorry about that and I hope it wasn't too distracting.**

**A heads up! I'm trying my best to be as accurate and realistic with the medical stuff in the writing. I'm doing some research but I'm not a medical student or doctor of any kind so please don't take the medicine TOO seriously. Also, I would appreciate it if you do find a mistake or don't think something's plausible, please try to refrain from correcting me or calling me out on it. I'm trying mostly to focus on the story of the characters where the medicine and surgeries complement them :D **

**Another note, I am taking my time on developing Emily and Micah's relationship so if you are expecting them to get together immediately, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed. I'm on Team Micah, don't worry! Haha I believe all the characters are interesting and have their own story to tell and I am here to help move that along. **

**Thanks again and stay tuned for the next chapter! I have so many ideas so I'm trying my best to organize my thoughts : )**

* * *

_"When life hands you lemons, you make lemonade. I guess that saying is meant to make us think about making the best of any situation and how complex life truly is. So lemons are obstacles. To make lemonade means to tackle it head on and hope everything turns out the way you wanted it to. It brings up another important point: everything happens for a reason, whether it's good or bad. You wouldn't be dealing with this particular problem if you weren't capable in the first place to handle it, right? As doctors, we're equipped with the ability to take facts and concepts and figure out new medical problems. It's important to think on our feet since life will throw you lemons when you least expect it."_

Emily was trying to remember how to breathe properly during her yoga session with Tyra. She had convinced her to try Bikram yoga but she failed to inform Emily that it was going to be a heated and sweaty session! Sweat continued to drip off her body. "_I'm sweating in places I didn't know it was possible!"_ thought Emily. She sighed and switched into the new position as the instructor moved on.

"I'm trying to get you to sweat out all your Will and Micah problems. You'll thank me for this Emily. Maybe not now, but some day," Tyra said in a soothing voice with her eyes closed. She was extremely focused on finding her balance and core.

Emily stuck her tongue out at Tyra. Her problems were certainly still there, perhaps in her sweat somewhere. She groaned in pain as she was in the new yoga position. She wasn't the most flexible or athletic person. "_Remember when you tried to run those 3 miles with Will and Cassandra? Seriously, what point were you trying to prove?"_ Emily grimaced as she thought about that memory.

"Thank you class, I hope you enjoyed this session and you leave today feeling invigorated!" the yoga instructor cheerfully exclaimed.

"I'm so invigorated right now! I feel that a nice, long, and_ cold_ shower is in order," Emily said to Tyra sarcastically. The two laughed it off and gathered their stuff in the women's locker room. Emily had finally stopped sweating but her clothes were soaked. "I feel pretty gross right now."

Tyra smiled, "Admit it. You feel good right? I know it hurts and it's hot but you get used to it eventually. How else do you think I maintain this rockin' body?" She began strutting down the locker room aisle as if she was modeling for a runway show. Emily did a double take at her, playing along. Their laughter filled the room, prompting other people to stare at the two women, wondering what was so funny.

"Shoot. We're going to be late. Emily, we can't take a shower!" Tyra looked at her clock and started running towards the exit and to Emily's car.

Emily stammered, "Wait, you can't be serious right now." Her jaw dropped.

Tyra shrugged at Emily's comment, "Just put on some deodorant and body spray or something. Tie your hair up in a bun. It'll be fine. We can take a shower during our lunch break! C'mon Emily, my dad's going to kill me if I'm late again!" Emily rushed to the car and they were finally on the way to the hospital, drenched in their glorious sweat and all.

* * *

As everyone was changing in the locker room, Emily couldn't help but feel that everyone was staring at her. Or smelling her. Whichever one it was, she started to turn red.

_"I hate Tyra so much right now. I reek. I look tired and worn out. I just want to shower…"_ Emily hated being the center of attention. In this case, it wasn't for a good reason. Emily sighed, looked at her face and hair in the little mirror in her locker. She found a hair tie in her bag and attempted to get her hair in a bun.

_"Ew, no. I can't pull off the bun look. My face looks even more square and masculine without any of my hair down." _Emily thought to herself. She settled with a single braid and pinned back her bangs. _"That's much better."_

Cassandra walked past Tyra and Emily and commented on their current condition.

"Hey Pits, forgot to shower this morning? You're starting to live up to your nickname even more," Cassandra snickered. She laughed and left the locker room.

Emily glared at Tyra and gave her an 'I-told-you-so!' look. Tyra shrugged it off and motioned Emily to just go meet up with the other interns.

* * *

Micah was still in charge for Dr. Bandari's assignments. She was scheduled to return in a few days from her vacation with her husband. In the mean time, Micah resumed the consultations with the first year interns. The interns began piling into the room but Micah could only see Emily.

_"She looks different today. Her hair's braided and out of her face. I've always thought she was beautiful. You can really see her piercing blue eyes now."_ Micah caught himself smiling like a goofball but immediately erased that smile. Emily and Tyra stood behind him. _"Thank god she didn't see that, I hope…"_

"Hmm, Dr. Dupre. Step on up and please present." Micah asked, knowing she was behind him. Tyra grabbed the patient's chart out his hand and proceeded to talk. It's been a while since she last presented a case. She felt a little rusty and unsure of what to say. Tyra took a deep breath and began talking.

"This here is Joseph Contreras who's 23 years old. Uh, it says here he was transferred from a clinic to the hospital a few days ago after presenting with a persistent cough, fatigue, night sweats, and unintentional weight loss. So far, there has not been any blood that has shown up during his coughing nor has he experienced any chest pain. Oh, he is also HIV positive."

Emily looked over at the brown-haired boy with green eyes. He looked happy, despite being sick with such a horrible disease. He saw Emily staring at him and smiled at her.

_"Shoot! He caught me staring. Look away Emily. Wait, smile first so he doesn't think you're rude!"_ she returned the smile and focused on Tyra but her eyes wandered over to where Will was who happened to be standing next to her arch nemesis.

Micah nodded in approval of Tyra's presentation. He followed up with, "Dr. Dupre, what do we do now?"

Tyra flipped through some of the papers in Joseph's chart. Her heart was racing for some reason. She felt nervous and scared that she would say the wrong thing. "_Crap! I don't know, what do I say? Holy crap, Micah's going to think I'm this incompetent, idiot intern. He's never going to let me present again and I'll never see another surgery –"_ Tyra looked over at Emily for some reassurance.

Emily could tell when Tyra was nervous. She took a deep breath, hoping Tyra would do the same and that it would calm her down. Tyra did exactly that and she felt more at ease.

"Dr. Dupre?" Micah was concerned with why Tyra wasn't answering.

"Sorry Dr. Barnes. From here, we should check Joseph's lymph nodes for any swelling and listen to his breathing. Because Joseph's immune system has been seriously compromised from having HIV, we should take that into account. I'd also recommend additional blood tests to rule out any toxins and environmental agents."

Tyra let out a quiet sigh of relief after Micah smiled at her correct recommendations. Emily also smiled at Tyra, happy that her friend was able to overcome her nervousness.

Micah turned to the patient and asked, "Joseph, do you have any questions about what's going to happen next?" He waited for Joseph to speak.

"I'm actually okay for now. You're just going to test my blood now?"

Micah motioned to Tyra to answer his question. "First, we're going to conduct a physical examination to rule out a possible infection. Then we will obtain a blood sample for testing."

Joseph nodded to demonstrate his understanding. Micah contemplated about who would work with Joseph today. He looked around the room at the different interns and finally decided on Will. _"I hope Will doesn't think I'm holding a grudge against him for having a thing for Emily or whatever it is. I have to be impartial and as professional as I can be."_

"Dr. Collins, please assist Dr. Dupre with Joseph for today. That is all everyone, go on with your assignments." Micah said.

After hearing who she was going to be working with today, Tyra sighed once more. _"Are you kidding me right now? Of course this would happen. Me and Will. We're probably each other's least favorite person. The only thing we have in common is our friendship with Emily. I hope I don't snap and kill Will for jerking Emily around."_ Tyra kept a straight face, hoping her disdain for Will wouldn't be so obvious.

As everyone was leaving Joseph's room, Emily stayed behind to get a quick word in with Tyra. She whispered, "You did good today. Remember to breathe, okay?" For a second, Emily forgot Will was still in the room.

_"It's been forever and a day since Will had really talked to me. I'm being thrown for a loop here. Maybe Tyra's right, he's just stringing me along after his break up with Cassandra…."_ Emily's face began to frown but she changed into a small smile when Will greeted her.

"Hey Emily."

Did Emily dare to look at Will in the eyes when all this time, he's been avoiding her like the black plague?

"Hi." That was all she could say.

Tyra sensed Emily was uncomfortable. As awkward as she could get, Tyra loved Emily's awkwardness and innocence. "I'll see you later?" She then whispered in Emily's ear, "Showers during our lunch break!"

Emily was so consumed with her dilemma with Will, she had forgotten about her smelly self. She laughed and waved bye to the two doctors.

* * *

Still concerned with how she smelled, she tried to sneak a whiff by lifting up her arm. _"Okay Emily. Just raise your arm a little. Don't make it obvious that you're trying to smell yourself. Uh oh! Dr. Putnam alert!"_

Emily tried to walk as quickly as she could out of his sight but like the predator he is, Dr. Putnam caught up to Emily.

"Dr. Owens, haven't seen you in a while. Where have you been all my life?" He flashed his million-dollar smile said to make girls swoon. Or so Emily heard.

Emily groaned and turned out to acknowledge the preda—Dr. Putnam.

She smiled back, "Hi Dr. Putnam," Emily ended up awkwardly laughing, "Oh you know, I've been here and there. How are you doing?"

_"I forgot to kill Tyra about testing my hypothesis for my social experiment. I thought he was finally off my back after Will had saved me from him. That whole bookcase thing. Oh my gosh, he's giving me that I'm-going-to-get-you look!"_

Kyle couldn't help but feel attracted to Emily. He always had his way with women and most would have killed to have the chance to go on a date or to go home with him. However, he was intrigued that Emily seemed unaffected by his good luck and charms.

He answered, "Oh, I'm feeling kind of sad at the moment. You see, there's this girl I've been trying to grab drinks with but she keeps turning me down."

Emily caught on and began feeling flushed. _"Prepare to get caught. That's what he said right? I can't believe I'm in this situation right now. Someone please save me!"_ Emily laughed nervously again, uncertain as to what she could say to Kyle's comment.

Suddenly, Emily's pager went off and it was from Micah. "_Thank you Micah for saving the day!"_ she felt so relieved.

"Dr. Putnam, uh I'm sorry. I have to go! I hope your situation gets better," Emily turned and pretty much sprinted towards the stairs.

Kyle laughed and shook his head as he turned his attention to his patient charts. "_She's going to get caught one of these days."_ He gave a smile to the nurse at the nurses' station and within a few seconds, the cheeky nurse was pinker than Emily had turned earlier.

"Hi, Sunny is it?"

Sunny laughed nervously at the gorgeous doctor talking to her, "Yes, I'm Sunny!"

"Why, yes you are," Kyle began to flirt with the nurse.

* * *

Micah was pacing the hallway outside his mother's room. He was still dealing with his mother's decision about not participating in the clinical trial he had worked so hard to get her in. Micah had to use some of his best connections to pull those strings but he ultimately knew he had to respect his mother's wishes.

_"Where's Emily? I haven't talked to her alone in what feels like ages. Why do I feel so nervous all of a sudden?"_ Micah questioned himself. He saw Emily walking quickly towards his direction out of the corner of his eye.

"Micah.. I mean Dr. Barnes… I'm…so…sorry…I was—" Emily was out of breath. She had climbed up five flights of stairs because she wanted to get out of Dr. Putnam's radar as quickly as she could. Emily didn't want to wait for the elevator so here she was, tired and out of breath. She was also still sore and tired from this morning's yoga session. _"I can feel my armpits getting wet again. Oh no…"_

Micah weakly smiled at her, still trying his best to give her space and not seem so clingy towards her. "Dr. Owens, are you okay?"

Emily replied after taking a deep breath, "Yes, yes. I'm alright. You paged me. What's up?" She kept her sentences short because she didn't have enough energy to talk.

"Albagetti needs an extra hand in the ER today. Are you assigned on anyone's service as of right now?" Micah asked.

Emily took another deep breath and answered, "No, I'm not with anyone today."

"Alright, head on down to the ER and help Albagetti in any way that you can. I had paged Kopleson too so she should be down there already. You'll be working alongside with her today. That'll be all." Micah waited for a few seconds to see if Emily had any lingering questions before he went into his mother's room.

Emily said bye and left quietly.

_"What that girl does to me…"_ he sighed and entered the room to visit his mother for the day.

* * *

Tyra continued to dread the rest of her day as she was supposed to spend it with Will. Maybe that was her arch nemesis, what Cassandra was to Emily. She dismissed the idea and tried her best to get through the day without murdering Will or something like that.

Will was busy with the physical examination as Tyra waited to draw blood from Joseph. He started feeling Joseph's lymph nodes located at the neck than proceeded to the underarms.

"Hmm. Dr. Dupre? There seems to be swelling in the lymph nodes."

Joseph's ears perked up after hearing that. "What does that mean Dr. Collins?"

Will smiled and answered, "that means you might have an infection which may be the reason why you're coughing nonstop and losing weight."

Tyra stepped in and felt the lymph nodes to make sure they came to the same conclusion. "Yup, they're swollen alright. Okay, Joseph I'm going to draw your blood now."

After learning Joseph had HIV, everyone who was to interact with Joseph had to be extra precautious when it comes to dealing with bodily fluids. Tyra had gowned up and doubled up her gloves. Will stood near the door, waiting for Tyra to finish.

"How are you feeling right now Joseph? Are you feeling any pain anywhere or any discomfort?" asked Tyra.

Joseph smiled and told her he felt fine at the moment. He coughed a few times and Will handed him a cup of water.

"If there isn't anything else, we'll be back in to check on you and we'll have your test results by then," Will informed Joseph. He nodded and started to close his eyes to sleep. He had a long day. A long few weeks actually.

The two doctors left Joseph's room and started to head towards the lab to drop off the blood sample.

Will had never really worked alongside Tyra before. He hasn't engaged in a real or long conversation with her before. They had always said hi in passing since she was always with Emily.

_"Emily. Crap. At this point, she probably knows that I've been avoiding her. Will, you're so stupid! Why did you go over to Emily's and sleep with her?"_ Will was replaying that night in his head. He smiled about what a great time he had and how amazing Emily was in bed. _"Stop it! She's like your best friend. You can't think of her like that! You still like Cassandra, not Emily. She's only your friend. Your best friend that is. If Cassandra found out, there really will be no chance of getting back together. I can't stand how she's acting. Cassandra is acting like nothing is wrong and nothing happened between us. I need to figure out how to get her back… but I have to deal with this Emily situation. Ugh, what did I get myself into?_"

Will was thinking about how he could approach Emily. He began imagining how the conversation between them would go.

* * *

The two doctors continued to walked in silence. Tyra hated it when it got quiet when she was with people. She wanted to say something but she didn't know what to say to Will that didn't involve cursing and yelling at him.

"So…" Tyra started, "How have you been?" That's all she could think of.

Will was surprised that Tyra started the conversation. He answered, "Uh, I'm doing fine. Nothing new really."

_"You liar! You're such a pig Will Collins! If only I could give you a piece of my mind…."_ Tyra stopped herself from looking angry.

"Oh, that's good to hear," was what Tyra said.

They had reached the lab and there Hot Molly was. Aside from Will and her dad, Hot Molly was the last person she wanted to see at that moment. Tyra hid behind him. _"It's a good thing he's so tall. Okay, I'll give you a brownie point for that Will,"_ she thought to herself, hoping Molly wouldn't see her pathetic attempts to hide.

Will was confused at what Tyra was doing so he whispered, "Why are you hiding behind me?"

Tyra pointed to Hot Molly and pleaded with Will if he could deal with dropping off the sample and then later picking up the results.

Will smiled at her. He was surprised that Tyra could act this way. He always saw her as a confident, sometimes obnoxious girl. The complete opposite of Emily.

"Okay, I'll meet up with you later?"

Tyra gave him a quick squeeze, surprising herself and Will for what just happened. "Thanks Will, I owe you!" Tyra quickly said before disappearing into the hospital.

* * *

Emily finally arrived in the ER. She sometimes liked being down there. She didn't think Albagetti liked her after the way he made fun of the whole, 'drug addict's fake penis' incident she was unfortunately involved with. Emily had spotted Cassandra at the receptionist area.

"Hey Pits, what took you so long to get down here? We're jam packed down here today."

Emily nodded and apologized. Albagetti saw Emily and grabbed her.

"Owens, go over to bay 4 and try to get that patient on their way. Empty as many beds as you can. As you probably noticed, we're super busy down here and there's a shortage of beds right now." He pointed over at bay 4 and Emily rushed over there. She pulled the curtain to the side and closed it immediately.

A small Korean lady was sitting there, with a large gash on her hand. Emily could see glass embedded in the flesh.

"Hi there uhm…" Emily grabbed the patient's chart and couldn't make out the name that was written, "What is your name?"

The lady tried her best to talk, "My name… Yoona." Emily could tell she was not fluent with English so she made sure she talked slowly and annunciated everything she said.

"I see you have a big cut on your hand. How did that happen?"

Yoona looked confused, as if she was trying to understand what the doctor has asked. "Cut. Uh it small accident."

Emily smiled and reassured her that she was going to clean the wound and give her stitches. She excused herself to obtain a suture kit from the supplies cart. With in a few minutes Emily had returned with the kit and began picking out the glass fragments.

* * *

After maybe 30 minutes, Emily was done stitching up Yoona's injury. Yoona thanked her many times which Emily was really appreciative of.

"It's no problem, really. Please keep your hand as clean as possible and come back in a few days so I can remove the stitches," Emily informed her little Asian patient. "Okay, if there isn't anything else, you are free to leave. Remember to come back Yoona!" Emily began cleaning up and clearing the bed for the next patient.

Yoona didn't leave, which confused Emily. _"Did she need something else? Emily, go ask her silly!"_

Emily walked up to Yoona and asked, "Yoona, what's wrong? Do you need something?"

Yoona was at a loss of words. Her limited English kept her from trying to tell Emily that she needed her for something else. "I- uh. Outside. Please."

"After you," Emily said. Yoona grabbed Emily's hand and began to walk towards the exit of the ER. She wasn't sure what was going on but there was something up and she was going to do her best to help Yoona.

They had made their way into the parking lot and there, Emily finally understood what Yoona wanted. Her daughter was sitting in the car, with a large gash across her forehead and few scrapes on her face.

"Yoona, bring your daughter inside. I will take care of her the same way I took care of you." Emily tried to open the car door and Yoona stopped her. She shook her head no and tried to talk to Emily once again.

"My daughter… Mi-Yun. No hospital please. Help here." Yoona made a gesture, which seemed to resemble a rectangle or square shaped. Emily realized what she was scared of: her daughter wasn't a citizen, she was an illegal immigrant.

Emily tried to tell Yoona that they will treat her and they should not be scared of getting deported because that wouldn't happened. Yoona insisted to stay where they were.

She sighed and said, "Be right back, stay here." Emily went back to the hospital and grabbed another suture kit and cleaning supplies.

"Pits, what are you doing with a suture kit and some gauzes and isopropanol?" Cassandra had startled Emily.

_"Crap! Please Cassandra, not now. I don't have time to explain myself to you. I have to hurry."_ Emily groaned and turned around to face her.

"Cassandra, I have another cut to stitch up in uh… bay 2. Albagetti's instructions." Emily laughed nervously, hoping she wouldn't be caught lying.

Cassandra glared at Emily, "Pits, I was just at bay 2. I've known you for how long? I can totally tell when you're lying. Tell me what you're up to. Albagetti might blame me for whatever you're doing and I definitely do not need that," she scolded Emily.

Emily sighed and decided to tell her the truth about Yoona and Mi-Yun. _"I hope she doesn't tell Albagetti on me. Please please please don't…"_

Cassandra's facial expression softened and that surprised Emily. "Oh, is that all? Alright. I'll cover for you before Albagetti comes back asking where you went. Try to hurry ok Pits?" she gave Emily a small smile of approval before disappearing to bay 6.

Emily didn't have time to process what had just happened. She quickly left the ER and returned. Emily began working on Mi-Yun's cut and disinfecting the rest of her wounds.

When Emily was finally done, she told the mother and daughter to return so Emily could check on how the wounds were healing.

"Here, I will give you my pager number and cell phone. You can call me and I will come out to meet you. I just need to make sure the cuts are ok."

Yoona continued to thank Emily and even gave her a hug. She was so grateful for Emily's help even though they had struggled communicating with each other. Mi-Yun said goodbye to Emily and Yoona got into the car and drove away.

Emily stood in the parking lot, happy with how things turned out. _"Cassandra acted more humanly today and it was towards me! Maybe she's turning over into a new leaf."_ She stopped overanalyzing the kind deed and rushed back to the ER so Cassandra and her wouldn't get in trouble.

* * *

Will had gotten the lab results back and paged Tyra.

Tyra just finished taking her much needed shower. Emily never texted her back. She figured she was busy since she last saw her heading towards the ER. Tyra met up with Will outside Joseph's room so they could discuss the results.

"So, what did they say?" Tyra asked.

"They came back clean. Pretty much inconclusive. We're back at square one now. Still don't know what's wrong with him," Will seemed discouraged about the news.

All of a sudden, the two heard Joseph yell out.

"SOMEONE! HELP! There's blood coming out… Ahhh!My chest hurts!"

Will and Tyra rushed in and saw blood coming out of his mouth. Will moved quickly to grab towels and a container. Tyra was busy putting on a gown, mask, and gloves. The blood was infected with the HIV virus and they had a protocol to follow.

"Will! Stop what you're doing right this minute! You need to put on some protection before touching Joseph!" yelled Tyra. She was fumbling with the gown ties.

"I'm okay! Don't worry! We have to stop this bleeding!" Will reassured Tyra. He began wiping Joseph's mouth and gave him the container so something could catch his throw up and the blood.

Something happened that Tyra was afraid of: Joseph sneezed and coughed in Will's face as he was wiping him down. Both Will and Tyra's eyes grew large.

"Will. Get away from Joseph right now."

He knew better than to defy Tyra this time. There was a different tone in her voice this time. Will still wasn't able to process what has just happened.

_"Did that just really happen?! OH MY GOD. I might have AIDS now. God, why do I have to be stubborn and stupid? I can't stop freaking out now. Holy shit holy shit!"_ Will punched the wall which startled Joseph and Tyra.

"Dr. Collins, page Dr. Barnes immediately and call the nurses to come in here!" commanded Tyra. Will listened and tried to wipe the blood from his face and scrubs.

_"Damn it Will. You should have listened to me! Ugh. Okay, Tyra focus. Prop Joseph up at 90 degrees and go from there_." She thought to herself, trying not to panic as she was actually worried about Will as well.

* * *

"Dr. Collins, I cannot believe you did not follow protocol! They are there for a reason! They're for your protection! It was made perfectly clear to everyone else that Joseph has HIV and you are required to gown up before entering the room, especially since he coughs…" Micah continued to lecture Will in the employee health office.

Will couldn't focus on what Micah was saying. All he could think about was that his life may be over. He was doomed. Everything was spiraling down for him. _"First Emily, Cassandra… my patient with the antidepressants… now this,"_ He groaned which prompted Micah to raise his voice even louder.

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME?! I am your chief resident! I am solely responsible for you and all your actions! It is not only a reflection of you but of me as well!"

The nurse had finished drawing blood from Will so they could quickly have it tested to see if he had contracted the virus.

15 minutes later, the blood test had came back negative.

Will sighed, never having felt this relieved in this entire life.

Micah placed his hand on Will's shoulder in a reassuring, friendly manner. "It's not completely over yet. We have to get you tested again in a week or so just in case. Better safe than sorry, right?" Will nodded in agreement with Micah.

_"Am I really comforting him right now? He's basically my competition! He's the reason why I'm invisible to Emily. He's the reason why Emily is so screwed up when it came to relationships and guys."_ For a second, Micah felt as though Will was being punished… _"NO! MICAH! YOU ARE HORRIBLE. You are a doctor, You are a human being. You do not wish bad things to happen on to others. No matter how you feel about Will Collins, no one, not even him, deserves to get sick._"

Micah actually began feeling so disappointed in himself for thinking something that terrible. _"The crazy things that you do when you're in love."_

* * *

After the craziness has settled down in the ER, Emily and Cassandra could finally breathe again.

"Pits, you're starting to smell even funkier. Please do us all a favor and take a shower!"

Emily decided it was time for her lunch break. But rather than eat, she was going to take a quick shower. _"23 text messages and 6 missed calls from Tyra. What does she need to talk to me about?"_

After Emily showered, she never felt better or cleaner. She towel dried her hair and braided it again. Tyra busted in the locker room shower/bathroom and walked towards Emily.

"What's the point of having a phone if you don't answer?!" Tyra was on edge for whatever reason.

"Geez Tyra, ok I'm here. It was so busy in the ER and I really had to take a show—" Tyra interrupted her.

"You'll never guess what happened to Will today."

It was pretty horrific news and Emily could feel her stomach drop to her butt. She wanted to do nothing but go to Will and comfort him. _"That's my best friend. Who knows what's going through his mind? I can't believe that happened! I really need to talk to him_,"Emily frantically thought to herself.

"Tyra, where is he now?"

Tyra was sitting down on the locker room bench. "I saw him last with Micah. I think they were at employee health, getting a blood test." She could see the worry in Emily's eyes and how badly she wanted to go to Will.

Emily could only think about how Will and Micah were together. _"Can my day get any better? The two people that are the root of my problems and my guilt… I have to see them together. I don't know what to do or say. What if Micah thinks something? I mean something may be going on between me and Will. Stop right there! Stop thinking about what's going to happen with Micah. You can deal with him later, Will needs his best friend right now._" Emily left to go find Will

She braced herself, just in case she were to run into Micah as well.

* * *

Tyra was unsure what was wrong with Joseph. _"What is causing all of his symptoms? If Emily was here, she'd say something that'll make us both think and it'll just come to us. Ugh, where is she when you need her?_" She knew Emily was probably with Will after his ordeal.

She flipped through his charts as she was eating sushi on the rooftop. There was always something missing.

All the results came back negative for everything they tested for. Tyra then reviewed Joseph's immunization record. The last time he had a TB test was two years ago.

Quickly, Tyra remembered in one of her classes that it was common for people with HIV to contract TB because they were so immunosuppressed from the virus. She paged Micah and ran down the stairs to see Joseph.

* * *

Joseph had gotten worse. It was to the point where he was transferred to the ICU.

Micah and Tyra walked to where his new room was and entered.

Joseph had his oxygen mask on because he was having trouble breathing now. "Hey Dr. Barnes, Dr. Dupre," he barely said in a whisper.

Micah smiled at him and said, "Joseph, we know what's causing all your symptoms and why you have gotten so sick. Dr. Dupre, proceed."

Tyra had received permission to speak, "Hey Joseph. We discovered that you weren't up to date with your TB tests. Were you aware that you should be tested every year?"

Joseph shook his head no, he wasn't aware of that.

She continued, "Well, it was two years since you were tested for TB. The fact that you also have HIV has made your immune system very weak, as you already know. We had tested you again for TB and it came back as a false negative. That could be due to the virus complicating things. Your sputum was collected and tested for the TB bacteria. You also got a chest X-ray. All in all, you tested positively for active tuberculosis."

"And the prognosis?" added Micah. He just wanted to make sure she didn't forget to tell Joseph what the road to recovery for him was like.

Tyra smiled at Micah, "While testing for what kind of TB you had, you have somewhat of a resistant strain. That means it'll be harder to treat, but it's not impossible. We're going to be giving you several drugs at once to treat this particular strain. We started you on Isoniazid and Rifampin. You should be back on your feet in no time. All your night sweats, weight loss will diminish and your coughing will cease. I know that was a lot to take in, but everything's going to be okay! Do you have any questions for us Joseph?" The doctors waited patiently.

Joseph was happy that they figured what was wrong. However, that didn't change the fact that someone else may have been infected with this horrible disease raging through his body.

"Uhm, I don't really have any question about myself but I was wondering if you could tell me how Dr. Collins is. Is he okay? I can't help but feel responsible for that happening…" Tears began to form in Joseph's eyes and his voice began to break.

Micah shushed Joseph, "No no no Joseph. Don't feel that way, it is not your fault. I'm happy to tell you that Will is okay at the moment. So far, his blood test came back negative but we're going to closely monitor him for a few weeks to make sure he didn't contract the virus. Please Joseph, do not blame yourself for this. Things happen. All we can do is hope for the best right?" Micah smiled at the boy with the green eyes.

Joseph thanked the doctors and waited for his family to come visit him.

Tyra and Micah walked together in silence.

_"Oh c'mon. Not this awkward silence crap again,"_ thought Tyra.

"Today was quite… interesting."

Micah answered her, "Yeah, it was, wasn't it? That just goes to show, things can happen and change in an instant." He started thinking about Emily again.

_"Easier said than done huh? Who knows what the future has in store for me? Who knows if I'll end up with Emily or not? I really don't know at this point… but I have to remember that things always change. There's still hope for us."_ Micah was lost in his thoughts which caused Tyra to snap him out of it.

"Alright then, it's been a long day. Time to clock out! I'll see you tomorrow Dr. Barnes."

Micah said goodbye to Tyra and away they went.

_"Where is that Emily? I need to sleep or drink right now…"_ Tyra quickly texted her.

* * *

Emily and Will were sitting on the rooftop together. It was actually quiet between them for once.

Will had spilled to Emily about how he felt throughout the entire day after he was exposed to the infected blood.

"I was so stupid Emily. Why do I always rush into things? Why do I always have to be the guy who tries to save the day?" Will couldn't stop regretting his actions and blaming himself.

Emily listened to her best friend attentively. It was one of her better traits, she was a great listener.

She gently reassured him, "The tests came back negative. They're going to continue to be negative. You just have to be patient. This is another lemon that life is throwing at you Will." Emily couldn't believe she just referred to this ordeal as a lemon. Boy, did she regret that last comment.

Will looked up at her and started laughing. "Thanks Emily haha. I needed that. This is a lemon, I guess. Gotta make that lemonade right?" He knew what Emily was trying to say and he appreciated it so much from her.

_"What is it about Emily that drives me up the wall? One minute, I'm crazy about Cassandra and hell bent on getting her back. The next, I'm wanting to be with Emily. To kiss her. To hold her. To be with her…"_ Will stopped in the middle of this thought process as he noticed Emily looking into his eyes. Those piercing blue eyes that could see into his soul.

_"Not those eyes. Ugh, I can't do this to her or to Cassandra… Or to myself. She deserves better than this. Will, man up! Tell her how you really feel! You want Cassandra, not her! Nip it in the bud right now!_" Will continued to debate with himself in his mind.

Emily couldn't read Will's face. Usually, he was easy to read but tonight, he was different. She couldn't put her finger on it but all she knew was that she wanted to be with him. Emily took a deep breath. _"I'm gonna tell him what's on my mind. Emily, you can do it."_

"Will, can I talk to you about something?"

He nodded and waited to hear what she had to say.

She started to look down at her feet, trying to find the right words.

"Will… what happened between us? I mean that one night between us… that happened and ever since then, you've been avoiding me. You can't even look me in the eyes… You're doing that right now," Emily frowned, realizing what he was going to say.

"Emily… I care for you a lot, you know that. I just don't know if things would work out between us because we're such good friends, right? I don't want to jeopardize our friendship because you're important to me," was all Will could say.

She started laughing to herself because she has been so stupid, all this time.

"Emily, c'mon. Why are you laughing?"

She scoffed and prepared to get up to leave him. _"Shame on you Emily, you have been so stupid. You just won the stupidest person alive award. Aren't you proud of yourself?"_

"Emily, stop. Where are you going? Come here." Will got up too and grabbed Emily and embraced her.

She felt tears streaming down her cheeks and for once, she was at a loss of words. She gave into Will. Emily hugged him back.

Will stroked her hair and held onto her tightly. "Emily… you mean so much to me," he sighed and continued, "Let's see what happens okay? We can't force anything right now. We'll take it a day at a time."

Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing. Will had officially chosen her, Emily Eileen Owens. Her tears quickly turned into happy ones as she continued to hold onto Will.

"We should get going now. It's getting late and you're kind of getting smelly again Emily," Will stifled a laugh which ended up causing Emily to laugh as well.

He couldn't believe what happened. This was not what he expected the conversation to go. "_Way to go Will. You did the one thing you WEREN'T suppose to do: lead her on! Cassandra's never going to get back with you..."_ Will started to regret what just went down. _"You dug your own grave, prepare to bury yourself in it."_

They walked down the stairs together but parted ways as they walked to their cars.

_"10 messages, 12 missed calls from Tyra. Oh crap, I drove today. She is going to kill me… I think I better not tell her what happened between me and Will just now. Another time will be better. That is, if I'm alive by the time I get to my car."_ Emily smiled to herself at what Will had said, what Will had done.

Emily finally made it to her car and there, she was greeted with an furious Tyra. She could practically see steam coming out of her nostrils and ears.

"EMILY OWENS! I cannot believe you made me wait for you for almost an hour. I could have walked and made it home by now! Ugh, I should have driven today…" Tyra continued to yell and complain as they got into the car.

Again, Emily didn't care about anything at that moment except Will.

"Why are you smiling? Emily, this isn't funny! I could have frozen to death, waiting for you. Are you even going to tell me what kept you from answering your friggin' phone? You're impossible, you know that…" Tyra went on and on about Emily but she had tuned her friend out.

Emily smiled at the thought of her new relationship. Love. Whatever it was. She just knew that she was happy.

_"Life keeps giving you lemons. These lemons can be pretty much anything. A revelation. A blessing in disguise. A favor. A best friend. A terrible disease. The love of your life. An accident. Whatever the lemons may be in your life, remember it is important to make that lemonade. Let's just say, my lemonade had just gotten sweeter." _


	3. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello everyone!

I am SO sorry for the lack of updates. I've been swamped with research papers, midterms, and quizzes that I haven't had any free time to write a chapter :( I know I promised you updates as quickly as I could but allow me another week and I will be able to once my life has slowed down a bit.

I already know what I will plan to write so hang in there and bear with me. I really appreciate all your support and eagerness for the story, it's what keeps me going! Thank you all so much for being understanding.

Stay tuned for next week!

xoxo


	4. Emily and the Not So Crazy One

**Hi everyone! I hope I didn't lose any followers or people who were interested in my developing story. I finally managed to write this chapter in the time that I had available. I am free from midterms and homework assignments for the time being so I'm going to enjoy this while it lasts before finals begin!**

**I think I have found the style that I am most comfortable with and that I found works best. I enjoyed including some of the other characters' inner monologues in the previous chapter but I felt that it disrupted the flow of the story. Besides, the show only presented Emily's inner thoughts so I think I will stay true to that!**

**Thank you for sticking with me, I truly do appreciate everyone who takes the time out of their day to read my story. Or in this, Emily's story :) **

**Enjoy this chapter! I made it extra long so I hope it was worth the wait.**

* * *

_It is always wondered as to why people go crazy. Instead, you should wonder why people don't go crazy. Life can get hectic at times and in the midst of everything, what is it that keeps people holding things together? What keeps you sane and in control?_

After another restless night, Emily decided to make breakfast for once. She didn't want to brag but she was actually quite the cook. If there were only more hours in a day so Emily could prepare meals properly without constantly being on a time crunch. It was early still. She let Tyra sleep in her bed last night while it was her turn on the couch. Emily had started feeling guilty ever since Tyra had been living with her for several weeks now and also putting up with Emily and her OCD habits, as Tyra would call them.

_It's not my fault if I like to wipe and rinse the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher! Is that really too much to ask?_

Emily chuckled to herself at the moment when she had to tell Tyra about her routine for washing the dishes. She knew that Tyra, though puzzled and surprised by Emily and her ways, accepted her anyways and that's what she loved and appreciated.

So the two began rotating between the bed and the couch. Emily really did not mind at all, she found herself actually happier than usual. It was nice to have company after having lived alone for a majority of her life.

_I hope she likes mushrooms and spinach in her omelets_. As Emily was flipping the frying pan, moments before sliding her culinary concoction onto the plate, Tyra had walked in, rubbing her eyes. Followed by a yawn, she immediately sat down at the dining table.

"Mmm, that smells amazing Emily! You know we could have just eaten cereal and I would have been completely fine with that."

Emily finished by adding parsley as garnish on Tyra's omelet then grabbed some utensils for the both of them. She walked towards Tyra and placed the plate of food in front of her. "Bon appetit!"

"Did you also happen to make coffee?" Tyra asked, with her eyes widening at the sight of food. It looked as if she hasn't sat down for a home cooked meal in who knows how long.

Emily laughed at Tyra's eagerness to eat. "Of course I did, would you like me to bring you a cup?"

Before Emily had finished asking, Tyra had already gobbled half of the omelet.

"This is delicious! Even though I hate onions, I don't care that they're in this because it's amazing regardless," Tyra managed to say as she inhaled the food.

Emily grabbed two mugs and poured coffee into them. She grabbed her plate of food and sat across from Tyra. _Wow, she really liked that! I haven't even started on mines and she's nearly done. Oh, and note to self: refrain from using onions on Tyra. _

As Emily started to finally eat, Tyra got up to rinse her plate and then placed it in the dishwasher.

"I will never understand why you insist on me doing this. That's the dishwasher's job." Tyra grumbled. She sat back down at the table and continued, "So Emily, you haven't gone on your long tangents about Will. Or Micah now that I think about it. Now that's weird. Spill."

Emily coughed and slightly choked on the piece of omelet she was chewing on. She drank her coffee to clear her throat.

"Uh, er… There's nothing that's going on between any of us. We're all just –" Before Emily could finish, she thought about her word choice rather carefully. She didn't want to lie to Tyra, but she had promised Will that she wouldn't tell anyone about their little arrangement. As for Micah, she hasn't talked to him aside about work-related things. She didn't know what to do or say so she came up with her best answer, "Just friends. That's it. Aren't you tired of listening me talk about them anyway?" Emily hoped this would be a good enough distraction to get Tyra off her case.

Tyra laughed at Emily's remark, "Why, yes I am. Thank you for being so considerate of my feelings." She drank the rest of her coffee. "Now about me… I think I'm going to try to talk to Hot Molly today."

For the second time, Emily choked on her food again.

"You okay there? Maybe I should wait till you're doing eating to say something. I don't want to have to perform the Heimlich on you," Tyra teased.

Emily smiled and cleared her throat, "It's okay. Anyways… really? What made you decide to talk to her again? I mean, she did blow you off and from what I remember, it was pretty harsh. And, you two have been giving each other the cold shoulder since then. Not to mention you both avoid any means of interaction with each other." She was curious to what Tyra would respond with.

Tyra groaned, "I know, you don't have to remind me." She started doodling with her index finger on the tabletop. "I still feel attracted to her you know? I thought it was going to be a fling-type thing but I think there's more. As least, I hope there is. Emily, I haven't felt this way about someone before. Wanting to fight to be with someone. I usually just shrug it off and move on to the next person to have fun with."

"At least you're going to try this time. That's really big and brave of you Tyra," Emily tried her best to encourage her friend.

Tyra got up, took Emily's finished plate and mug and took them over to the sink. When she finished putting them in the dishwasher, she walked on over to Emily and gave her a side hug.

"Thanks for just listening and not over analyzing my situation." Tyra glimpsed at the clock above the T.V. "Time for work again."

* * *

AJ was on his way to pick up Micah from his apartment. When he arrived, he pulled out his iPhone 5 and texted Micah to come out. Within a few minutes, the young doctor appeared and rushed to get inside the glossy black BMW.

Micah buckled up and thanked his friend, "Hey, thanks again for picking me up and taking me to work. I can't believe I got another flat tire; I just changed it last month. Just another messed up thing I need," he muttered before letting out an exasperated sigh.

As he leaned back in the passenger's seat, Micah closed his eyes. He was physically and emotionally drained. After all, Micah has been going through more than he has led on. His mother had changed her mind again about the clinical trial because it meant that she would have to move to Minnesota. Liz had also been staying with Micah and was driving him up the wall, unlike any other time before. He felt that his sister was a constant reminder of the potential lengths he was willing to go to try to save his mother, even if it meant lying to the one person he cared about so much in the world. If there was anything that Micah hated more than the very disease killing his mother, it was dishonesty.

"It's no problem at all. It's the least I can do for my best friend," AJ flashed him a smile but Micah didn't respond. AJ looked over his left shoulder to check if the lane was clear. "Micah, you okay?" He glanced over at his friend who was slumped over and had his eyes closed.

AJ noticed how tired and weary Micah had been for the past several days. With Joyce's condition worsening, the unexpected visit from his sister, and something obviously wrong with him and Emily, AJ couldn't help but feel helpless because there wasn't anything he could do. He only knew _so much_ about what Micah was going through. Micah just wouldn't let AJ or anyone else in.

He made another attempt to get Micah's attention but AJ was met with a shrug and a plea to let the tired doctor get a few minutes of shut-eye before their shift. He let out a sigh and made no further attempt to find out what was going on with Micah.

"Guess it's just you and me, Adele," AJ said as he flipped through his Pandora stations.

* * *

With a little over fifteen minutes to spare, Emily and Tyra stopped by the coffee cart outside the hospital. That one cup of Joe back at home wasn't enough to keep the two interns awake for the day. As they waited in rather long line, they were almost next. Suddenly, someone they didn't expect to see turned around and immediately caught their attention: Dr. Bandari.

Emily's eyes grew large at the sight of her attending. _I didn't realize Bandari was coming back today. Wait, it's been that long? Maybe her vacation was cut short -_ Emily's thought was interrupted as Tyra nudged her.

What seemed like a really long and awkward silence, Dr. Bandari said something first, "Dr. Owens, Dr. Dupre. I'll see you during the consultation. Don't be late. Oh, and it's good to see you two." She held her coffee cup and grabbed a sleeve for it before heading towards the hospital.

This time, both Emily and Tyra's jaws dropped after Gina had walked away. When the two interns finally picked up their jaws from the ground, they looked at each other as they quickly paid for their drinks.

"Did Bandari just say, 'good to see you?' to us? Me, Tyra Dupre, and you, Emily Owens?" Tyra asked as she sipped on her vanilla soy latte.

Emily replied, still in shock, "Yes, she really just did. Is it just me who lost track of time but wasn't Bandari supposed to be away longer?" _What if something happened between her and her husband? That could explain why she's back. Emily, stop! It's her business, don't end up like the other gossiping monsters in the hospital._

The two interns started making their way towards the entrance of the hospital and to the intern locker room.

Tyra threw away her drink in the recycling container and continued, "Yeah, I think she was because I remember Micah saying she was coming back next week. Seriously, she said it was good to see us? I thought she openly despised you Emily and only remembered me as the Chief of Surgery's deranged daughter," Tyra managed to get a laugh out of herself and Emily.

Emily then glared at Tyra and defended herself, "Hey! She does not despise me. I think the best I can say is that she tolerates me, even more so now that I am her research assistant. Anyways, she's back and everything will just go back to normal."

For some reason, Emily didn't believe what she was saying. _Nothing was going back to normal. As least, not for me anyway_.

Her friend answered with a shrug and the two dropped the Bandari conversation. They finally made it to the locker room and began changing into their light blue scrubs.

"It's about time Dr. Bandari's back. No offense to Micah but he's no Bandari, that's for sure. I can finally resume my proper education and training with the best of the best," exclaimed Cassandra a few lockers away from Emily. As Cassandra walked past them, she whispered to Emily, "No more special treatment for you."

Emily rolled her eyes as her arch nemesis left the locker room. Tyra patted her back and simply said, "Ignore her. I always do." She gave Tyra a slight smile and they closed their lockers before walking to the consultation room.

* * *

As the rest of the first year interns gathered around the bed of a frail and rather disheveled woman, the room immediately grew quiet.

Micah was standing next to Gina as he usually does. He was glad to see his attending but rather confused as to why she was back from her vacation so suddenly. He disregarded those thoughts and handed the patient's chart to Gina. However, she gave it back to Micah.

"Dr. Bandari?" Micah asked as he looked at her.

Once more, Gina surprised him by giving him a small smile, something she ordinarily doesn't do.

"Yes Dr. Barnes? Aren't you going to choose the intern to present the patient for today?" She paused to observe the rest of the room. Everyone was looking at her in shock, completely taken aback by her change in attitude. "Listen, just because I returned from my vacation does not mean every thing has to change. Dr. Barnes has been doing a fantastic job taking over my place from what I've been told and I do not see any problem with letting him continue. Does anyone have a problem with this?"

Everyone in the room, the patient included, shook their heads no. There was still that fiery, intimidating flair Gina had when it came to grabbing everyone's attention and speaking as well.

"Alright then. Dr. Barnes," Gina motioned for Micah to step forward and choose.

As tired and worn out as Micah was, the moment he looked at Emily, every problem and worry he had seemed to dissipate instantly. Emily returned his gaze by subtly smiling at him.

He was aware of how long they have gone so far without really talking to each other. After all, Micah's intuition keeps hinting that something was going on with her and Will. He hated the very thought of Emily and Will together so he tried his best to avoid her and remained diligent and focused on his mother and work.

He had made his decision.

"Dr. Owens, please present." Micah handed the young blonde doctor the patient file.

Emily was feeling flushed as she found herself surprised yet again. _First, running into Bandari now Micah's kind of acknowledging my existence again? What's next, this patient isn't really sick?_

She opened the manila folder and began to scan the document.

"Camille Manning. A 36-year-old female who went collapsed and went into respiratory distress this morning when she was at the grocery store with her husband. Preliminary analysis and labs showed that Mrs. Manning suffered a pulmonary embolism, which originated from a larger clot found in her right leg." Emily stopped to look at her patient, who was shaking and growing restless with the amount of people in the room. Micah nodded for Emily to continue.

She took in a breath and began again, "Toxicology screening also indicates that her blood alcohol level was 0.12% when she arrived in the ER. Lastly, Mrs. Manning was diagnosed several years ago with schizophrenia."

Gina gave Emily an approving look at her presentation and proceeded to ask her, "Good, Dr. Owens. What is the recommended course of action we are going to take for Mrs. Manning?"

"We are going to start Mrs. Manning on heparin to make sure the clot goes away." Emily turned to face the husband with the concerned look on his face, "Mr. Manning, we are going to keep your wife overnight for observation. Clots have a tendency to grow bigger and we don't want to risk another event like this morning."

Mr. Manning replied, "Please, call me Al. Do whatever you have to do to make sure she gets better." He reached out to stroke his wife's hair, only to be met by Camille hitting his hand to go away.

Emily winced at the poor woman's rejection of her caring husband. She couldn't help but think of Will treating her the same way.

Gina stepped in, "Al, we're going to keep a close eye on her and make sure she gets better. The pharmacy will be sending up the required medication to treat Camille momentarily. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask."

The interns began to move out of the room and to their other assigned patients while Gina, Micah, and Emily remained outside of Camille's room.

Emily thought to herself, _Who am I working with today? It's usually Micah overseeing two interns who are assigned to a patient then Gina supervises him. _She continued to wonder about what was going on and remained quiet as Gina started to talk.

"Dr. Owens, again, good job on the presentation and prognosis. I'm sure you are wondering who you will be working with today."

Both Emily and Micah's ears perked up and they both turned to look at the intimidating doctor.

"Who would you like to work with you today on Mrs. Manning's case?" Gina simply asked.

Almost simultaneously, Emily and Micah's eyes widened with curiosity and confusion as to what just happened.

_Did Dr. Bandari just ask me who I wanted to work with today? What in the world is going on?_ Emily stood there, stunned while trying to figure out what to say and who she wanted to work with.

As for Micah, he had never witnessed Gina ask an intern on what they wanted. It was usually them carrying out her orders, with no questions asked. He, too, was at a loss for words. Micah waited for Emily to say something since she was the one who was asked the question.

"Dr. Owens?" Gina asked again.

Emily snapped out of it and preceded to answer, "Sorry Dr. Bandari, but I would be more than happy to work with anyone you assign me with."

"There isn't someone you have in mind at all?" Gina seemed confused this time. She knew she was scary and almost everyone in the hospital feared her in some way. They steered clear of her most of the time as well. However, she wasn't oblivious as Emily was to Micah's obvious infatuation for the young and quirky intern. She also knew of Emily's unrequited love towards Will Collins from rumors that have spread throughout the hospital. Gina was certain she would have picked Micah or Will to work with.

"No Dr. Bandari," Emily timidly replied. Micah was standing there, still speechless.

Gina knew what she was going to do.

"Dr. Owens, you're going to be working with Dr. Barnes today. This is a delicate patient and she requires a more experience doctor like Dr. Barnes along with a bright, young mind such as you. Feel free to page me if anything comes up. Other than that, you can go tend to your other assigned patients. Have a good rest of your day." She managed to turn around to walk away but she had realized she forgotten something. Gina turned to face Emily, "Dr. Owens, make sure you find out why the patient's blood alcohol level was over the legal limit this early in the morning. That is all." Gina left the two doctors.

For the first time in weeks, Emily and Micah were together again thanks to Dr. Bandari.

Emily knew she missed Micah and she hated the thought of lying to him but she felt this loyalty towards Will so she couldn't break her promise. She figured it was for the best if she avoided Micah to prevent her from telling him the truth. But she noticed Micah was growing increasingly distant from her as well. _What I would give to not be in this situation right now…_ She continued to miss Micah, but selfishly kept herself in check for Will's sake even if it meant hurting Micah.

Micah, on the other hand, was initially looking forward to working with Emily. He was well aware of how little they were speaking to each other, especially after Liz's arrival to Denver. Usually Emily is easy to read so Micah was able to figure out that something was going on with her but she remained quiet all this time. "Fine," was the answer she always gave him so he gave up temporarily. He wasn't the type to pry but he longed for her company and their conversations. Micah needed someone like Emily more than ever now but all he could think about when he saw her was Will. Anger and feelings of rejection began to overwhelm Micah, on top of every thing else that was going on with him. Now, he wished he wasn't paired up with Emily.

Micah's tired eyes met Emily's glistening blue eyes and immediately, she could see only sadness and pain in them.

"Micah," was all she could muster up the courage to say.

"Could you go check the nurses' station to see if the heparin arrived? If it hasn't, please stop by the pharmacy and check on that order. It's imperative that Camille gets administered that medication immediately," Micah bluntly said. "Page me if you need me." He turned around and left, with no destination in mind. All Micah knew was that he had to get away.

Emily just stood there, dumbfounded at what just happened with both Bandari and Micah. _Off to the nurses' station I go. Or to the pharmacy._

* * *

Will walked out of his patient's room with Cassandra. After their breakup, there was always a mixture of awkwardness and tension that followed the two every time they were near each other. It was also a deadly silence that neither one of them broke.

All this time, Will had missed her and concocted some kind of plan to win back Cassandra. To him, she was the love of his life, not Emily as he regrettably led her on to believe. So he was the first to talk.

"So, how have you been? Everything's good with you?" Will couldn't think of what else to say. They hadn't held a conversation for more than two seconds in passing.

Cassandra was surprised that Will was actually making an effort to talk to her this time. As proud as she was, Cassandra wasn't going to be the one crawling back to him. But then, she wasn't sure if she wanted to pursue a relationship with him again. Will had broken her heart by picking the one girl who seemed to better than Cassandra in every possible way. It was not just with Will, but with the other interns, staff members, and Dr. Bandari especially that seemed to prefer Emily over her.

She decided to be civilized and reply. "I've been the same. Nothing's new with me. I'm just glad Bandari's back. I hope she lets me scrub in with her one of these days, she seems to be in a rather good mood."

Will was hoping that Cassandra would be a little less cold towards him but the fact that she was talking to him meant everything.

"Yeah, she is, isn't she? That must have been some vacation she went on.

Cassandra looked down at her wrist to see what time it was. It was time to leave this awkward conversation.

As they reached the elevators, she went on to say, "Well, I'm heading onto the OB/GYN floor. I'm supposed to be assisting Dr. Hamata today." Cassandra pushed the up button and waited for Will to leave.

With nothing else left to say or do, Will said he would see her later. He left to go take the stairs.

Cassandra shrugged it off, determined to get over Will. She needed to get back on her A-game if she was going to become the best doctor she could possibly be.

* * *

While sitting at one of the desktop computers at the nurses' station, AJ was almost done finishing up his charting for his patients that he had seen so far. He had heard that Gina was back and that she was in a shockingly good mood. Consumed with thoughts about how many text messages and voicemails he had her before and during her time away, AJ couldn't help but feel upset and hurt as to how Gina was treating him and how messed up the situation was.

He stopped charting and glanced over at the main desk where Gina was standing, reviewing the patient files that she had left in Micah's care. Though he was infuriated with the woman, AJ couldn't help but stay in love with her either. But this time, she was coming to him. Not the other way around. AJ resumed his charting and he had just missed the moment that Gina was looking towards his direction.

Gina continued to gaze at the handsome doctor as he was charting away. She knew how wrong it was for them to have been together in the past while she was married. However, Gina couldn't help but feel something towards AJ. She wasn't able to put her finger on it ever since he returned to the hospital, asking for his job back. As angry as she was with him, Gina wanted nothing more than to be with him that very instant.

* * *

As Gina continued to look through each of her patients' charts, she suddenly stopped due to her thoughts wandering off about her husband Evan.

She was so excited to finally spend quality time with her husband. It was much needed since her dedication to her work kept her away from home and him for the past several years. Gina knew how much it strained their marriage but they still stayed together. She thought it was going to be different this time, as she was putting in more effort. She hoped that Evan would notice and not be so angry and disappointed by her.

Gina had booked a two-week trip to the Bahamas, where their honeymoon took place. Hopeful about rekindling their relationship, Evan came into the bedroom with a blank expression on his face. Gina played the moment over and over again, how he said he couldn't go on the trip because it didn't feel right to him. Then he went on to suggest that they separate and that it wasn't a divorce. He said they both needed to work on themselves before they could be together. The newly separated doctor decided to go on the trip anyway, as the tickets weren't refundable. The entire time, Gina was miserable. She found herself crying herself to sleep every night she was out there in the beautiful tropics as she couldn't bring herself to face the reality of the situation that she and her career had ultimately put her in.

A tear managed to appear out of Gina's eye and she quickly wiped it away. She sighed, trying to avoid any thoughts about the last several weeks.

Finally, Gina had finished reviewing the files. She wasn't surprised that everything was fine because she left them in Micah's care. Micah really was her favorite doctor that she has come to mentor and work with.

She decided to sneak another glance at AJ but this time, both their eyes met. They stared at each other for a few seconds before Gina walked on over to AJ.

AJ stopped typing and turned his chair towards Gina as she made her way over to him. He picked up his patient charts and got up to leave. Gina stopped, confused as to what he was doing.

Just before AJ was about to pass Gina, he frankly said, "Nice to have you back Dr. Bandari," and left in the opposite direction, leaving her stunned.

* * *

With her arms crossed over her chest, Emily was patiently waiting for the heparin order for Camille. She changed to a less irritating position by placing her hands and arms down by her side. Emily didn't want to come off as annoyed or unapproachable. Apparently, the pharmacy was backed up and they had kindly asked her to wait as they tried to organize the chaos inside.

Tyra was standing outside the laboratory, which was across the hall from the pharmacy. She was trying to come up with the courage to somehow talk to Hot Molly. Tyra then spotted Emily waiting outside the pharmacy and decides to pay her a little visit rather then try to talk to Molly at that moment.

"Hey, what are you waiting for?" Tyra asked as she walked up to Emily.

Emily greeted her with a smile, "Oh hey Tyra. I'm waiting on the heparin order for Camille. It wasn't at the nurses' station so here I am, waiting." She laughed a little before her face turned into a slight frown.

Of course, Tyra knew something was up and waited for Emily to say something.

Followed by a sigh, Emily continued to talk, "So after everyone left the consultation room, Dr. Bandari asked who I wanted to work with today on Camille's case. I told her I would be happy to work with any one and she pairs me up with Micah," Emily's eyes showed the pain and guilt she was feeling as she was talking. "He's still being short with me and… it feels like the whole Kelly situation all over again." There was more to the story but Emily stopped herself from say anything else.

Tyra attentively listened but she tried her best to stay calm and collected, knowing how dumb and obvious Emily was being.

"Maybe you should ask Micah if you two can talk in private. That way, you'll be able to assess the situation and understand where he's coming from before jumping to any conclusion," Tyra advised.

Little did Tyra know, Emily was scared to even approach Micah, let alone talk to him. She knew she had to do something because it was straining their professional relationship, as well as their friendship, which she cherished so much.

Tyra's pager went on. She turned to Emily and said, "Listen I gotta go. I'll talk to you at lunch or sometime later in the day. Just try talking to him Ems," She rubbed Emily's arm as a supportive gesture and disappeared into the hospital.

The pharmacist finally gave Emily the heparin order and apologized numerous times about the delay.

As Emily began to walk briskly to Camille's room, she contemplated about talking to Will first before she talked to Micah. Deep down, she wanted to be honest with Micah because the guilt was slowly but surely eating away at her. Micah of all people deserved better than what Emily was doing to him. She reached for her phone and sent a text to Will, asking to meet in the locker room before lunch.

* * *

Micah had rushed to get to his mother's room because a nurse had paged him. When he finally arrived, he was surprised to see Liz sitting in the chair beside their mother.

"What are you doing here? Never mind. Mom, a nurse paged me. Is everything alright? Are you experiencing any –" Micah worriedly asked before Joyce interrupted him.

"Micah, everything is fine. Actually, everything is better than fine. I called you both here today to share some news with you," Joyce paused as her children looked at her, waiting to see what she was going to say.

"Spit it out mom, what is it?" Liz demanded.

Micah shot his rude sister a disapprovingly look but remained quiet, anxious to hear their mother's news.

Joyce took both Micah and Liz's hands in hers as she began to speak. "I have made a decision. With everything that is going on, especially the baby…"

At the sound of the word 'baby,' both brother and sister flinched because they knew it was one, big fat lie.

"… that's on its way, I need to be here for my children and grandchild. Micah, Liz. I've decided to go through with the clinical trial at Mayo."

Micah and Liz jumped to hug their mother, with tears streaming down their faces. They were so happy that she was going to keep on fighting for her life.

After being smothered by the hugs, Joyce coughed, prompting the two to retreat.

"Now, now. I know you both wanted this and I'm doing it because I love you both so much. Micah, I know you said it started already but is it too late to participate?"

Joyce wiped her son's tears away from his face. He composed himself and managed to get out a few words, "Mom, of course you still can! I'm going to make some phone calls right away so you can get started on the trial." Micah hugged his mom again.

Relieved to see that her children were happy, Joyce held onto Micah as he continued to hug her.

"Micah, Liz. Now, I know that this trial is at Mayo. Correct me if I'm mistaken but isn't that in Minnesota?"

Liz looked at Micah, wondering what their mother was talking about.

"Micah Mouse, what is mom talking about? What's in Minnesota?" Liz asked.

The doctor stood up and answered his mom and sister, "Yes, the trial is going to be taking place at Mayo. Mom, Liz, it's one of the top medical institutions in the country. You're going to be receiving around the clock care and you'll be under the care of some of the best doctors in the U.S.!"

Micah was trying extremely hard to sound convincing but he knew what this meant: someone had to go be with their mother.

Liz began pacing in the room, "You did not tell me this! I thought the trial was going to be here! I friggin' packed up all my things and moved here to be with you and mom! Now she's going to be moving to Minnesota?! Is she even stable enough to go after she's had surgery?!"

Micah knew Liz was furious with him but she knew that this was the best option for their mom, even if it meant that she had to move yet again.

While Micah was trying to figure out the right words to say to calm his sister down, Joyce chimed in.

"Elizabeth! Do not raise your voice with your brother. He has done nothing but help me through this and right now, you're not helping the situation by yelling at him," Joyce gave a stern look at Liz, which quieted her down. "Now that everyone is calm, we can discuss this like the adults we all are. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes mom," Micah and Liz said in unison.

"Alright. Like I said, I have made my decision to go through with the trial. However, I also decided that I will be going by myself. I do not need to uproot my kids for my sake. I can do this on my own," Joyce's voice did not falter.

Both brother and sister looked at each other, speechless.

Micah was the first to speak. "Mom, you can't be serious. One of us has to go with you and it's going to be me. You can't go by yourself. I can make arrangements. I know the chief resident there and I'm sure Dr. Bandari and Dr. Dupre will put in a good word for me. I'll get started on my transfer to Mayo."

Liz shoved Micah and yelled, "Micah! You can't leave! It should be me that goes with mom. Haven't you done enough already?" Her eyes glared with fury at her older brother. Deep down, she continued to blame him for their mother's worsening condition.

Micah didn't say a word.

It was completely quiet in the room.

* * *

Emily went to go check on Camille, as well as give her the heparin that she needed. She was greeted by Al, who remained faithfully by his sick wife's side.

"Hi Dr. Owens, is that the heparin you're giving her there?" he shyly asked.

Emily returned with a smile, "Yes it is, we're going to be closely monitoring her while she's on this drug therapy."

_Oh shoot! I forgot, Bandari asked me to find out why her blood alcohol was so high. Ok, you can do it Emily. Just ask!_

"Hey Al, may I ask you why Camille was drinking so much this morning before she was admitted? It's really important that we know this kind of information. It could be relevant to the case," Emily asked as politely and gently as she could.

Al looked down at the floor before making any eye contact with Emily. Camille was still staring at the ceiling.

"Dr. Owens, you gotta understand. It's the only thing that keeps her down. I mean, it keeps her calm you see? I only give her enough to keep her calm. If she's sedated or-or if she takes her psychotic meds, she just isn't the same. She's not my Camille…" Al quietly started sobbing, covering his face with his pudgy hands.

Emily went over to comfort the crying husband. She reassured him that neither he nor Camille were in any kind of trouble but she informed him that consuming that much alcohol would be damaging to her liver.

"I understand what you're doing has the best intentions but there are other means of calming Camille down. It doesn't have to be alcohol."

Al wiped his nose after Emily handed him a tissue.

"I know, I know but trust me. I've tried everything. Nothing seems to work…" Al managed to say.

Emily went over to the supply cabinet to grab some supplies to obtain blood samples.

"Al, I'm going to draw some of Camille's blood to run some additional tests to see if we missed anything." Emily informed him as she made her way to the patient. "Camille, hi. I'm Dr. Owens. I'm going to be taking some of your blood right now. I promise it won't hurt and it'll be really quick."

Suddenly, Camille started thrashing in bed, hitting Emily in the middle of her tantrum.

"No! No! I won't give you my blood! You're going to use it for something bad!" Camille screamed. Her heart rate was increasing as indicated by the beeping on the heart monitor.

Emily yelled out towards the door, "SOMEONE COME IN HERE AND HELP ME PLEASE!"

Several nurses came in and gathered around Camille's bed to hold her limbs down to prevent any additional injury to the staff.

Emily freed herself long enough to grab the correct dosage of Haldol, an anti-psychotic medication and rushed over to inject Camille in the arm. Immediately, Camille stopped moving and all was quiet in the room.

Al was seen, sobbing in the back corner of the room. Emily walked over to him and said, "Al, everything's fine now. Camille's calm and no one did anything to hurt her. This was for the best, ok?"

He didn't answer the doctor. Al left to go sit beside Camille and grabbed her hand and held it in his.

_I need to talk to Micah and Bandari. Something's not right making sense here, _Emily thought to herself. She left the room after asking Al if he needed anything. Emily paged her two superiors and waited near the nurses' station.

* * *

The two doctors rushed over to where Emily was, wondering what she had paged them about.

"Dr. Owens, is everything alright?" Gina asked first.

Emily answered immediately, "Dr. Bandari, Dr. Barnes. After I found out why Camille's blood alcohol level was so high, I went to draw some blood from her. She threw a fit and kept saying that we were taking her blood to do something bad. Once I had received some help, I gave her Haldol to calm her down. Al, the husband, was furious and upset with me. He told me that Camille was different when she was sedated or given anti-psychotic medication so that is why she came in with such a high blood alcohol level. Al gives her alcohol to keep her calm. He says that he only gives her enough and he watches her carefully."

Gina nodded at the revelation of patient's condition and allowed Emily to continue.

"I figured that since she was diagnosed with schizophrenia several years ago, Al has been letting her drink for a while. Her liver could be damaged at this point. I suggest we take her for an x-ray and see what else we are dealing with," Emily had finished with what she had to say.

"Good Dr. Owens. Dr. Barnes, do you agree?" Gina turned towards Micah.

Micah was caught off guard and quickly nodded his head, with no further comment.

"Alright then. Dr. Owens, schedule her to get an x-ray immediately and page me when you get the results," Gina and Micah both left Emily to deal with the radiology request.

* * *

After Emily submitted the x-ray request, she returned to Camille's room to check in on her once more after what had happened earlier.

She saw Al was still there, remaining faithfully by Camille's side. Emily walks over to him and asks, "Hey Al, everything is okay for now. How about I relieve you for a little bit so you can grab a quick bite to eat? I'll be with Camille the entire time you'll be away, if that is what you're worried about."

Al gave her a weak smile, told his wife he would be right back and left the room to go to the cafeteria.

As Emily takes her seat next to the bed, she tries to find some kind of conversation starter. _What should I say? 'Sorry I had to give you some meds that is better than alcohol in terms of calming you down?' Nope. That won't work. The weather. I can always ask about the weather. It's safe. Wait, she probably has no clue about what the weather is like. Geez Emily, can you be any less sensitive?_

"Hi Camille, it's Dr. Owens again. I just wanted to see how are you currently feeling. Al left to go get some food so he should be back in ten minutes or so." Emily waited for a response.

Camille turns to face Emily and opens her mouth to talk. "I think I'm doing okay. I don't feel the same inside but I never feel the same for a while now. Everything changed. It's different," the poor woman was certain with her thoughts.

"What's different Camille if you don't mind telling me?" Emily was determined to understand her patient.

"I don't know. I don't know. I was never crazy. All my life things make sense. I'm stuck feeling like this and I don't know. I miss my husband. Did Al come back with food yet?" Camille scanned the room for Al but became disappointed seeing that he wasn't here.

Emily observed the woman and thought about the possibility that Camille isn't really crazy as everyone is making her out to be.

_What if Camille was misdiagnosed? She seems capable of holding a conversation and she is aware of her husband's presence. She also keeps saying she feels different and that things are different. But what's different? Is it the alcohol that she needs? Or the medicine that Al warned them not to give her?_

Emily continued to over her thought process and what Camille had just revealed to her.

All of a sudden, a scream breaks out into the room.

"I can't see! I can't see! Where did my eyes go! I can't see!" Camille was panicking over her eyesight.

Emily tries to calm her down but next thing she knows, she is covered in bloody vomit. Camille had just thrown up blood all over her light blue scrubs.

"I need help in here!" Emily cried out, hoping someone would come in. She couldn't hold Camille down in bed any longer and she continued to throw up, all while screaming her head off when she was able to.

Sunny and Martha, the two nurses, come in. Sunny helps Emily hold onto Camille while Martha paged Micah and Gina.

Camille suddenly collapses and starts gasping for air.

"I think she's having another pulmonary embolism!" Emily ordered, "Martha! Call the OR, tell them to prep for surgery! We need to remove the clot, NOW!"

Emily sees Al enter the room and he drops his coffee and sandwich.

"What the hell just happened?!"

* * *

Across the glass, Emily could see Camille being prepped for the emergency surgery. After calming Al down and trying to reassure him that the surgery was necessary and that there is a low risk associated with the clot removal, Emily was still nervous about her patient. It wasn't just about the clot anymore but her overall diagnosis. However, at the moment surgery was important so what she thought can be dealt with later.

Emily continues to scrub away at her hands, moving up her arms. The door swings open and in comes Gina and Micah.

"Dr. Owens, report to me what just happened," Gina demanded.

Emily stops scrubbing and answered, "Dr. Bandari, Dr. Barnes. After I had submitted the x-ray request, I went back to Camille's room to check on her. During our conversation, she began vomiting up a huge amount of blood. This was after she screamed out about how she couldn't see. So there's a new symptom on the table: loss of eyesight. As I tried to stabilize her, Camille collapsed again which indicated that another piece of the clot made its way into her lung."

Micah and Gina began to scrub as well.

"Thank you Dr. Owens, go ahead into the OR. We'll be with you shortly," Gina said in a cool and calm tone.

As Emily excused herself, Gina began to ask Micah a question.

"Micah, from one colleague to another, I must ask you as to what is bothering you? You aren't acting the same and you're rather quiet, which means something has happened or something is bothering you."

Before Micah could think of something to say, Gina continued, "The reason I ask is because I do not want an impaired surgeon going into my OR. I need someone that is stable and ready to handle anything that may happen. If you can at least reassure me that I can depend on you, I will say no more about this matter."

Gina held her clean hands in the air and turned to face Micah, awaiting his reply.

Micah finished up washing his hands and turned to face Gina now. "Gina, I appreciate your concern and your observation of me but I assure you that I am not letting my personal matters affect my ability as a surgeon at this moment. I am here for you and the patient, and that is all I will say. Shall we?" Micah walked towards the door and opened it with his back, allowing Gina to enter first.

* * *

"I need better visualization please," ordered Gina.

Emily was standing across Gina and Micah, observing as they proceeded to remove the clot from Camille's lung.

"Dr. Barnes, please take the lead here. I will be standing beside you, supervising."

Micah did not hesitate. He took the catheter from one of the surgical nurses and began the procedure.

"Alright. Inserting the catheter into the groin."

On the computer screen, they could see the little tube, slithering up the blood vessel and making its way towards the lung. Within a few minutes, Micah had reached the clot.

"The clot has been detected. Removing… it… now." Micah slowly pulled the catheter out and the clot was no longer in Camille's lung.

Both Emily and Gina's eyes showed Micah that he did a great job. He was glad about the successful surgery but even this was not enough to make him forget about his mother and the situation he found himself stuck in.

All three doctors walked out of the OR and removed their gowns and masks as they entered the washroom.

While the two older doctors had already begun washing up, Emily decided to bring up her own thoughts and opinion about Camille's diagnosis.

She cleared her throat, getting both doctors' attention.

"Dr. Bandari, Dr. Barnes. I would like to discuss about Camille and her diagnosis. Actually, misdiagnosis."

Micah and Gina stared at the young blonde doctor but only Gina spoke. "What do you mean, misdiagnosis?"

_No, do not let her question intimidate you. Just tell her what you think and go from there!_

Emily paused and took in a deep breath before answering, "I don't think she's actually schizophrenic. It doesn't add up. She was only diagnosed with it a couple of years ago. The onset of schizophrenia is in the late teens to late twenties, not at the age of 36. If we look at this psychosis instead as a symptom, it could explain the other symptoms that she displays like the liver cirrhosis, blood clots, and loss of eyesight. I don't believe they are independent of each other." She inhaled another deep breath as she finished, wondering as to what the doctors would think.

Gina was amazed that Emily was thinking outside the box. She had never thought of it the way Emily had put it. It was worth investigating further.

"Dr. Owens, you made some excellent points. It is plausible that her symptoms are in fact related. Now, we need to think of what disease encompasses all of these symptoms. Perhaps there are other symptoms we may have missed. Dr. Barnes, what do you think?"

Micah answered with a simple agreement. "I suggest you first check out the eyesight problem and see if it is temporary or permanent. We need to be able to assess that damage and work with her other symptoms from there. Good job Dr. Owens."

Emily was relieved that she wasn't spurned for speaking her mind. Gina instructed Emily to examine Camille once she was awake. Emily left, not before she had thanked Gina and Micah for letting her accompany them in the surgery.

Gina was able to leave as well but Micah had tugged at her arm, causing her to turn around.

"Yes Micah?"

Micah swallowed a big gulp before telling Gina what was going on. He was scared to but he knew she would be the person he had to talk to before anyone else.

"What you said earlier, before we went into the OR… Yes, there is something on my mind. My mother had just informed me that she wants to go through with the clinical trial."

Gina was so happy for Micah! She knew how much Micah was struggling with his mother's cancer and she commended him on staying strong for not only her but for himself as he continued to work hard every day.

"Micah, that's wonderful news!"

"Well, the clinical trial at Mayo so –" Before Micah could finish his sentence, Gina interrupted. She knew what he was getting at.

"So you are thinking about moving to Minnesota to be with her. And now, you are asking what I think and if I can get you to transfer residencies."

Micah weakly smiled, again amazed at his mentor's ability to understand and read his mind. He could only not because she took the words right out of his mouth.

"If this is what you truly want, I will do everything in my power to get you to Mayo." Gina confidently stated.

Before Micah knew what he was doing, he immediately pulled Gina into a hug, "Thank you, thank you so much Gina! You don't know what this means to me! I know I just found out today but this is one less thing I have to worry about. I know it's a long shot because it's Mayo for crying out loud but with you on my side, I just… wow. Thank you Gina. This means the absolute world to me."

Gina found herself hugging Micah back. If anything, she knew that Micah knew that he was her favorite, ever since his first year. There wasn't really anything she wouldn't do to help him, even if it meant losing one of the brightest and phenomenal doctor that she's had the pleasure to mentor and work with. She smiled but she pulled back from the hug.

"Micah, don't celebrate or thank me just yet. There are bunch of hoops and whistles we have to go through but I think it's possible. But let me ask you this, are you positive that this is what you want to do? The last thing I want to do is to talk you out of going to be with your mother but think about your career and what you have accomplished so far at Denver Memorial."

Micah stood there, trying to make sense of what she was saying. He was also trying to find the answer within him as well.

Gina continued, "Don't think of this as being selfish but you need to take some time to absorb what just happened today with your mother and what help I'm extending to you. I cannot make any promises but I want you to know that this is a huge decision to be making, especially since this is your fifth year into residency. If you do finally decide to move, make sure that you are doing it for yourself. No one wants you to regret your decision and to have you resent yourself and your mother. So before you make any rash decision, find out when she has to leave and we'll take it one step at a time from there."

Micah was speechless. Speechless at how much Gina cares for him. Speechless as to how much bigger this situation really is. Speechless about the hesitation he's now having with moving now.

* * *

Tyra was sitting alone in the cafeteria yet again. Emily was no where to be found and Tyra realized she didn't really have any other friends at the hospital. Or people that she could tolerate being with at lunch. Tyra was starving so she was not about to wait for Emily to respond to her texts and to meet her for lunch.

As Tyra shook the salad dressing packet, she saw her crush sitting alone as well in the corner of her left eye. After chickening out earlier back at the pharmacy with Emily, Tyra was running out of opportunities to talk to Molly. Even though she was scared to be shot down by Molly again, Tyra didn't want to let her irrational fear of rejection keep her from getting what she wants. She put down her salad dressing, grabbed her tray of food, and walked over to where Molly was sitting.

Molly looked up from eating her tuna sandwich and saw Tyra walk towards her. She was surprised and looked around to see if she was in fact walking towards Molly and not Emily or someone else sitting near her.

Tyra finally made it over to Molly and she spoke first, "Hi Molly, can I sit here with you?"

After what happened last time, Molly was still hurt and upset over what Tyra had done. She started to get up out of her seat to leave, not wanting to say a word to the curly haired woman.

Tyra set down her tray and stood right in front of Molly, stopping her in her tracks.

"Look Molly, can't you see that I'm really trying here? We've been avoiding each other all this time but the truth is, I don't want to ignore you anymore. I really do miss you and I just want another chance. That is, if you don't totally hate me right now." Tyra finished as confidently as she could, awaiting to see what Molly's reaction would be to her little confession.

Molly was not expecting Tyra to be this sensitive or emotional with her. She realized that Tyra was indeed trying and that it wouldn't hurt to give her another chance. Even though Molly wouldn't admit it, she missed Tyra's company as well. Molly sat back down, prompting Tyra to sit down as well in the seat across from her.

"One date. We can figure out when our schedules work but one date and we'll see where this takes us." That was Molly's final offer and Tyra was sure going to take it.

"Let's finish our lunches, shall we?"

Molly smiled at Tyra and they both continued eating but in silence. Somehow, they were okay with it.

* * *

Emily had waited for Camille to wake up from her surgery but she was still out of it. She asked Al to have her paged as soon as Camille wakes up because she had to conduct a necessary examination regarding her eyesight. Emily informed the nurses in charge of Camille to do the same.

_Everyone reacts differently to anesthesia so this could take a while._

Her phone went off. She received a text message from Will.

_Will: U still want to meet in the locker room? I'm free now_

Emily texted right back.

_Emily: on my way see u there_

She sprinted over to the locker room, anxious to talk to Will because she needed to get a lot of stuff off her chest. She wanted to get these feelings of guilt to go away so she was hoping her and Will could see eye to eye for once.

Emily entered the intern locker room and saw Will sitting on the bench, scrolling through his phone.

"Hey Emily. I got your text earlier. What did you want to talk about that it couldn't seem to wait till later?" Will laughed.

She walked over and sat next to Will. "Hi. There's something I've been meaning to ask you and it's about Micah."

Will's expression suddenly turned sour. Even though he admired the bright doctor, Will couldn't stand him for the reason that he and Emily have such a great relationship together. Oh, and the fact that Micah is totally in love with her as well.

"What about him?"

* * *

Meanwhile, after the thought-provoking conversation he had with Gina, Micah couldn't help but wonder if this was what he really wanted. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved and cared for his mother and that he wanted to be with her during the clinical trial but he had to stop and think about what was best for him. He is the chief resident of the hospital and he has accomplished so much and worked with some of the best doctors in the country as well. Micah knew the chances of success for residents who transfer hospitals late into their careers and he couldn't imagine starting at the bottom again. He had worked so hard to get where he was and to throw it away.

Micah stopped himself. He couldn't believe that he was questioning his intentions now. He needs to be with his mother and if he has to start over, he was more than willing to. If he learned one thing from his mom, it was her unrelenting work ethic. She has never given up on anything, not even the pancreatic cancer. There was no way that Micah was going to give up.

Micah was sitting in the break room as he was thinking about his situation and his mom. His mind then wondered off to thoughts about Emily. He had worked with her for most of the day but he had barely said anything to her. Micah knew how understanding Emily was so she probably did not think of his silence as a big deal. But then again, he wasn't sure of anything anymore.

If there was the possibility of Micah leaving, one of the first people he wanted to tell was Emily. If he was going to really leave, he had to talk to Emily and make things right. That's what his mother would tell him to do. The least Micah could do was be honest with her because she deserved that much.

Micah pulled out his phone and texted her asking where she was. When Emily didn't respond, Micah set out to go look for her.

He stopped by Camille's room, who was still knocked out. He ran into Tyra and Cassandra and both did not see or know where Emily was. Micah decided to check the rooftop because he knew that was her favorite place in the hospital. Emily wasn't there so he went to go check the locker room.

From where Micah was coming from, he was closest to the back entrance to the locker room and proceeded to enter. As he opened the door, Micah heard voices. He was able to distinguish one of the voices to be Emily's. He could now hear Will's voice rather clearly.

Micah stopped in the middle of the doorway and heard what they were saying.

_"C'mon Will, please try to see where I'm coming from. Micah's one of my best friends. I can't keep this up anymore. This lying and sneaking around with you, it's not right. I told you about what happened between me and him. And I just feel so guilty about everything. He deserves to know the truth at least. He has to know that we spent the night together_."

_"I didn't ask you to tell me what happened with you and Micah! You told me on your own and as a matter of fact, I didn't care then and I don't care now! Micah doesn't need to know what we slept together. Are you going to tell him the details of that now? Damn it Emily, when are you going to realize that you can't please everyone?"_

He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Micah felt dizzy and sick to his stomach about what he had just walked into. He grabbed his chest where he felt a burning sensation of what seemed like his heart shattering into a million pieces. Micah turned to face the door to leave but ended up hitting his head in the doorway. Micah groaned in pain, which caused the two interns to notice that someone else was in the locker room.

_"Hello? Is somebody there?"_

Micah bolted out of the room and tried to get away as far as he could while applying pressure to the bump that was slowly forming on his forehead.

* * *

Emily and Will got up to see who was in the room with them but there was no one to be found.

Will was pacing back and forth, obviously frustrated at what Emily wanted to do.

"Emily, I really can't stop you from telling him but just think about what it would do to the poor guy. He loves you okay? You're just going to break his heart. What you're feeling now is nowhere near what you'll be feeling after you break the news to him. I'm trying to do what's best for you Emily. What's best for us in the long run." Will tried to convince Emily not to say anything to Micah.

Emily was torn between Micah and Will. He had made a valid point about Micah's feelings. She knew that it wasn't his business to begin with but that she would be doing them all a favor by keeping Micah out of it. It was already complicated as it was and Emily would just make it worse.

As Emily was about to make her decision, she slowly but surely came to her senses.

_Why is Will so adamant about me keeping us a secret? Was he ashamed of me? Micah wouldn't encourage this kind of behavior, all this lying and sneaking around. He always said honesty was the best policy. That's what I believe to or so I thought. No. Will is wrong. Micah has the right to know. He doesn't need to know the gruesome details but I have to be honest with him. He's been honest with me. Ok, I'm going to stick it to Will now!_

She took in a deep breath, prepared as to what she was going to tell Will. "Will, I –"

Emily's pager went off. Camille was finally awake. She made a frustrated face and apologized to Will, "Will, I'm so sorry but I gotta go. It's my patient. I'll talk to you later ok? This conversation isn't over yet."

Emily rushed out the door, leaving Will worried as to whether or not she was going to spill the beans to Micah.

* * *

When Emily finally arrived to the room, Al ran up to her and hugged her, thanking her for the surgery going well and for Camille feeling better.

Emily hugged Al back but she had to pull away. She couldn't waste any more time because she had to conduct her examination to figure out what was causing Camille's blindness.

"Hey Al, I really appreciate the hug but I have to look at Camille right now. It's really important."

Al loosened his grip on the doctor and let her go.

Emily took out her ophthalmoscope, the device that shines light into the eye, and went over to Camille.

"Hey Camille, it's Dr. Owens again. I hope you're feeling better now. Your surgery went perfectly and you did great. Now, is it okay if I get a closer look at your eyes?" Emily waited for Camille's response. She didn't want to upset her and cause another outburst like earlier.

Camille nodded her head and pulled herself up in bed for Emily. She was staring forward with a blank expression, further indicating her loss of eyesight.

Emily positioned the device near Camille's left eye and looked into it. The answer was staring at her, right in the eyes!

_There's a copper colored ring around the iris. Okay, Emily think. Think about what you had told Bandari and Micah after the surgery. Think about what has all her symptoms…._

Emily thought about it for several minutes before having her 'EUREKA!' moment.

"Wilson's disease. It's Wilson's disease!"

Al stood up from his seat next to Camille and asked Emily again, "Wait, you figured out what's wrong with Camille? You figured out what's wrong with my wife?" He eagerly awaited for the doctor to respond.

Emily was grinning now, happy that she was able to piece all the information together and figure it out.

"Al, I have to consult with Dr. Bandari and Dr. Barnes and see what they think. But right now, Wilson's disease is the only one that could explain all of Camille's symptoms. I'm going to page them right away and we'll be back in here shortly." Emily asked Al if there was anything else he needed. He hurried her to go make the call so Emily left the room to go do so.

* * *

After Gina and Micah both examined Camille's eyes, they too saw the copper colored ring around the iris. Gina ordered another blood test, this time testing for copper levels and the tests came back positive, showing extremely high levels of copper in Camille's system.

Gina allowed Emily to give the prognosis to Camille and Al as she was the one to figure it out.

"Dr. Owens, please proceed with the prognosis," Gina motioned Emily to step forward and provide the treatment for Camille.

"Camille, Al. The blood tests came back showing that Camille has a very high level of copper in her system. We were able to piece together all of her symptoms such as the psychosis, liver damage, temporary loss of eyesight, and the frequent blood clots, where we were able to properly diagnosis her with having Wilson's disease," Emily confidently informed the husband and wife.

Al looked confused but relieved at the same time. "Okay, that is just great news! Wow honey, they did it! You can get better now! Dr. Owens, what is this Wilson's disease that you're talking about?"

Emily answered as simply as she could. "To simply put it, Wilson's disease basically messes interferes with the body's mechanism to eliminate excess copper in the body. This results in the body accumulating high and potentially dangerous levels of copper that led to all of the symptoms that presented."

Al nervously asked, hoping that it was true. "You said that the psychosis was a symptom. Does that mean this disease caused her to have schizophrenia?"

Emily looked at Gina and Micah but only Gina met her gaze; Micah looked away. Gina nodded and Emily knew how to answer Al's question.

She smiled, knowing what she was going to say would be extremely good news. "Yes, you're correct Al. Camille was wrongly diagnosed with having schizophrenia. Her psychosis was indeed a symptom of Wilson's disease so after treatment and some time, your wife should be back to normal. Back to who she is in no time."

Al began hugging his wife, crying at the sound of the news he just received.

"I knew it, I knew she wasn't crazy! My Camille is coming back to me. Camille? Darling? Everything's going to be okay. Everything is going back to normal."

The three doctors couldn't help but feel the true love between the two couple. After all they had been through, Al was faithful to his wife and stayed with her when she was at her worst.

Gina finished up the conversation by stating what the treatment would be.

"We are going to give Camille a maintenance dosage of zinc which will block the body's absorption of copper. We are also going to administer penicillamine, which is a copper chelator. Basically, it will cause your wife to urinate out the excess copper in her system. Dr. Owens is going to get this going right away. If there aren't any other questions, we will take our leave so you can be with your wife now Al."

Al and surprisingly Camille also thanked the three doctors and continued to embrace one another.

Gina was thoroughly impressed with Emily and congratulated her on a case well done. She finished signing off a prescription and documents for Camille and left Micah and Emily at the nurses' station.

Micah was able to also take his leave but Emily stopped him.

"Micah, wait. Can we talk? Not here obviously but somewhere more quiet and private? I need to tell you something. It's pretty important. And I wanted to ask you about the text message you sent."

Micah looked at Emily with hateful but pained eyes and he brushed her off. He continued to walk away.

Emily couldn't believe what pain she saw in his eyes. She didn't know where it was coming from but she still had to talk to him anyway. Emily ran in front of Micah, stopping him from moving.

"You need to get out of my way right now Emily."

Emily wouldn't budge. "No Micah, not until you tell me what's going on or let me tell you what I wanted to tell you."

Micah turned around and started walking the other way. "I don't want to talk to you or see you right now. Just… leave me alone!"

Micah had never raised his voice to Emily before and she knew this as well. She stood there in the middle of the busy hospital floor, trying to process what just happened. In her gut, Emily knew something was terribly wrong and Micah was pushing her away.

While all of this was happening, AJ had turned in the rest of his patient charts for the day as his shift was almost over. He saw and overheard part of the heated conversation between the two star-crossed lovers in denial. He walks over to Emily.

"Hey, are you alright? What just happened between you and Micah?" he asked.

Emily still stood there frozen but managed to get a coherent sentence out. "I don't know. I was trying to talk to Micah about something but he just got so angry with me and stormed off. I've never seen him that way before. AJ, I don't know what to do!" Emily was on the verge of tears.

AJ brought his hands to her face and looked into her blue eyes.

"Shhhh. Hey, hey. It's okay, don't cry on me with those beautiful blue eyes now! Just calm down and relax. I for one do not know what's going on with Micah either but I will get to the bottom of this. You should sign out for the night. You look exhausted. In the meantime, I'm going to find Micah and try to figure some things out with him. I'll let you know if anything comes up," AJ reassured the scared doctor.

Emily nodded and sniffled. She wiped some of the tears that formed away and took a deep breath in.

"Th-th-thanks AJ. Just let me know how he is. After that, I don't think we'll be talking for a while. I just want to know that he's going to be okay. Is it okay if I have your number so I can text you later?" Emily asked quietly.

AJ smiled, causing Emily to smile weakly as well. "Yeah, of course. My number is 720-968-3412. Text or call, whatever you want. I'm gonna go now. You're going to be okay right? I'd hate to leave you right now too like this."

Emily laughed and waved him off to go find his best friend.

"Go, I'll be fine. Tyra's waiting for me anyway. I'll see you later."

"Ok Emily. Have a goodnight."

As AJ began to rush towards the same direction Micah stormed off into, Emily called out to him, "Thanks again AJ." He turned around to acknowledge her gratitude and left to go look for Micah.

* * *

AJ had tried looking everywhere in the hospital. Micah was in the break room, the secret physician sleeping quarters that only the cool doctors knew about, the locker room, or the rooftop. AJ racked his brains about where else he could have been. He took Micah to work so AJ was his only ride back home. Then, a light bulb went off in his head. He had remembered how Micah was telling him about showing and taking Emily to one of his favorite spots to relax in: the medical records room.

And off AJ went, rushing towards that room, hoping that Micah was actually there.

AJ opened the door and looked in several of the aisles of the room. Finally, he found Micah, sitting on the floor in the back corner.

"I guess you were paying attention to me after all when I told you about this and Emily," Micah said sarcastically.

AJ wanted to laugh but he held back. "You know I listen to you. I just choose to only remember certain things." That was the best thing he could think of to say that wasn't totally seriously.

Micah scoffed at his best friend's remark. "It really is quiet in here. Gives you a great place to think and reflect."

AJ started to worry. He wanted to ask Micah directly, but couldn't figure out the right words to say without sounding too insensitive.

"I bet you saw what happened out there with Emily. And I'm guessing she told you because you went up to her."

He was right. Micah was always right. "Are you going to tell me what went down? She was really scared man. Hell, I'm really scared right now. Micah, tell me what's wrong. It's just me here, no one else."

Micah sighed, contemplating whether to spring the news to AJ or not. Micah decided to tell him anyway because he needed to. They were best friends.

"My mom's going through with the clinical trial at Mayo."

"That's awesome man!"

Micah paused.

AJ could tell that he wasn't happy by that reaction.

"Why do I get the feeling that you aren't thrilled about it?"

"No no I am. I'm really glad she came to the decision on her own even after Liz and I begged her to go. What I didn't really consider at the time was that the trial is at Mayo."

"Minnesota?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, go on."

Micah took a deep breath, hesitant on what he was going to reveal to AJ next.

"I might be going there to be with my mom, which means I may be transferring to Mayo."

AJ didn't know what to say. He was so surprised by the news that he sat down right next to Micah on the floor.

"Geez."

"I know."

AJ placed his hand on Micah's shoulder.

"That's really good news Micah. It's Mayo! Your mom's going to kick that cancer in the ass and you're going to be the best new doctor in town."

Micah couldn't help but try to stifle his laugh. AJ knew just the right things to say to make Micah feel better and to lighten the mood.

"Is that a laugh I hear that's trying to come out? C'mon Micah! I'm really, really happy for you. I'll be sure to visit you. Minnesota shouldn't be that cold. I mean we're out here in Colorado. It snows here too man!"

Micah smiled at his friend's comments. He knew AJ was trying his best to make Micah feel better in light of the situation.

"Don't get me wrong, I want to be with my mom wherever she is but I feel so guilty."

"About what?"

Micah tried to find the right words to say. "I feel guilty that I'd be leaving just for my mom and not for myself."

AJ waited patiently for Micah to continue.

"I mean, my mom is doing this for us you know? For me and Liz. It's the least I can do right? To go be with her by moving to Minnesota. I had talked to Bandari about it briefly and basically, it got me thinking about if I was doing this for the right reasons or not. Let's be honest here, how many success stories have we heard about residents who transfer, let alone the ones that transfer during their fifth year?"

"That's true."

"Well, I can't help but think about my career and what I have here in Denver already. My friends, the hospital, Bandari, you…"

"And Emily."

Micah stopped to think about what AJ just said.

"It used to be Emily but that ship has sailed."

"What are you talking about? If I'm not mistaken, Emily is still here. She cares for you. Deeply that is."

Micah shook his head. "You don't understand AJ…"

"Then make me understand. Micah, I'm trying so hard here to understand. I want to understand and every time I try, you shut me out. Ever since you found out about the clinical trial and with Liz coming into town, you kissing Emily, your mom's new decision…" AJ paused. "You know I care for you so much right? You're like a brother to me and I can't stand to see you hurting like this. Please, just tell me what's going on Micah. Tell me so I can help you in whatever way that I can."

Micah was touched by AJ's sincerity. AJ was not the one to get emotional or 'mushy' so Micah knew he was serious and that he meant it.

"Here it goes then. After I had talked to Bandari about the potential transfer, I decided that I wanted to tell Emily about it. I tried looking for here in the hospital and I tried the locker room. Well, guess who was there?"

"Will and Emily."

"Yes of course. Why am I not surprised? Anyways, I could hear them talking and I was able to catch part of their conversation."

"And? What did you hear?"

"She slept with him."

If AJ was speechless before, he was now truly at a loss for words. He knew how in love Micah was for Emily. For him to have found this out in this way must have been torture for Micah.

"Micah, I'm so sorry…"

"What do you have to be sorry for? You didn't do anything. I didn't do anything. You see? That's the problem? I stood by, with my head up in the clouds, hoping that my chance for Emily would magically come. I didn't do anything. Wait, I actually did. I practically drove Emily to Will. And now that I might be leaving, she's never going to know how I feel about her. How I truly feel about her. This is really my fault and no one else is to blame."

AJ tried to hug Micah but with the way they were sitting, only an awkward, one arm hug was possible.

"Don't lose hope yet. There's more to Emily than meets the eye. Have a little faith and just give her the benefit of the doubt for now."

Micah didn't respond.

"Well, misery loves company."

Micah chuckled and nodded his head in agreement.

"What do you have to be miserable about? You're AJ. Nothing bad happens to AJ Aquino."

AJ sighed, not wanting to talk about himself this time.

"Even when you're emotional like this, you still managed to crack a joke or two huh?"

The two best friends laughed it off. AJ was glad that his comment distracted Micah so he wouldn't be able to answer. This was Micah time, not AJ time. Plus, AJ's problems were nowhere near as complicated and unfortunate as Micah's.

AJ got up and put out his hand in front of Micah to grab. Micah grabbed it, and pulled himself up.

"Dude, how long have been sitting like that? My legs are all tingly and numb now." AJ tried shaking his legs but he only winced in pain.

"Ah, not the stabbing needles feeling!"

Micah was amazed that he was still capable of laughing in the midst of everything. AJ was glad he could still make Micah laugh after what he just told him.

"Alright, let's take you home to Liz now. I'm sure she's going to greet you with a nice, warm welcome."

Micah groaned. He didn't really want to see his sister now, especially how they ended things earlier with their mother.

"Hey AJ, is it okay if –"

AJ stopped Micah. He knew what he was going to ask.

"You can crash over at my place tonight. Aren't you glad you persuaded me to get that couch that cost me an arm and a leg? It was made to be slept on!"

Micah smiled. He was comforted in knowing that he could always depend on AJ to make him feel better, even if it was only temporary.

* * *

After Emily had finished taking a shower, Tyra was waiting for her while sitting on the bed. It was Emily's turn tonight to sleep on the bed. Her bed actually.

As Emily was drying her hair with the towel, she asked Tyra "Hey, what's up? You know it's my turn for the bed right?"

Tyra smiled, "Yes, I know it's your turn. I happen to like the couch, FYI. Anyways, I have news to tell you! But wait, you have to tell me what happened today. You were a hot mess when I saw you as we were leaving to go home."

Emily really wasn't in the mood to talk about her ordeals at the moment but Tyra insisted so Emily gave in. She went on to explain how her day went, and how she decided to talk to Micah only to be yelled at by him. Emily started to cry because she was not only hurt by what Micah did but hurting also by what she was keeping from him.

Tyra knew she couldn't talk about her good news tonight. Emily needed her full and undivided attention so she gave it to her. Just when Tyra had news to tell, it was never the right time for anyone to know. Tyra had the tendency to put the people that she really cares about before her.

After Emily had said everything she could say, Tyra did her best to comfort her crying friend by reassuring her that things were going to get better and that Micah was probably have an off day. She was afraid that Emily wasn't going to buy her excuses. Emily just wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be ok and Tyra did that for her.

"Tyra, what was your good news? I'm so sorry, I'm always coming to you with my stupid problems. I never hear about what's going on with you. I'm all ears now." Emily sniffled then blew her nose into the tissue Tyra handed her earlier.

Tyra hesitated before answering, "Nah, it's not big deal. I can tell you tomorrow or something."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Tyra stood up from Emily's bed.

"Hey Ems. Is there anything you need right now? Tea? A sleeping pill? Chocolate?" Tyra joked.

Emily ended up laughing a little and shook her head no. "Thanks but no thanks Tyra. I'm ok, much better now thanks to you. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night Emily. Try not to think about it too much. You had a long and hard day. It's best to sleep as much as you can." Tyra left Emily's room.

"Night Tyra."

It was almost 1 o'clock in the morning. She didn't realize how long the two were talking for. Emily turned off the lights and set her alarm for 6 o'clock.

_Only five hours of sleep. That's several hours more than I usually get._

Before she even thought about sleeping, Emily decided to text AJ to see if Micah was okay.

_Emily: Hey AJ it's Emily just wanted to see how Micah is doing sorry to wake u ttyl_

Within a couple of minutes, Emily heard the text message sound from her phone.

_AJ: Emily now's not a good time but Micah is a survivor get some sleep c u tmrw_

Emily didn't know how to decipher that message but she took it as a good sign if AJ said Micah was a survivor.

_I don't think you're born crazy. I don't think you go crazy out of the blue either. I think that if you don't have good people in your life like a devoted husband, an encouraging mentor, or a concerned friend to confide in, then I would imagine you're more likely to go crazy. Crazy because life comes at you in unexpected ways. Crazy because everything is so hectic. Those good people keep you grounded. They keep me sane and I'm glad I haven't gone crazy yet_.

After a last few thoughts, Emily then drifted off into a deep and much needed sleep.

* * *

After AJ had sent the text to Emily, he went into the living room to check in on Micah. He was fast asleep. AJ was glad he was able to sleep right away when they came home.

AJ on the other hand couldn't sleep. He was used to it by now. Some days he'd sleep for hours while others, like tonight, he didn't feel like sleeping.

His phone showed that he received a text message. He hoped it wasn't Emily trying to find out more about Micah. He glanced at his phone and did a double take. Was he seeing things?

_Gina B:_ _hey it's me. I was hoping if we could talk if you're still awake_.

AJ stared at his phone, wondering whether or not he should reply.

* * *

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It took me several days to finish. I don't know if you can tell but I published this chapter at 4 in the morning. I really wanted to get this chapter in for you guys. As I was finishing it, I didn't really proofread that closely so I apologize for any grammatical errors haha. **

**Please leave a review for me to read! I love reading them and I would love to know what you think about the story and if you have any comments or suggestions about what I should do or shouldn't do. **

**Thank you so much and have a wonderful rest of the week!**

**xoxo**


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